Don Lemon Sues Elon Musk, X Over Canceled Deal – No Contract Was Ever Signed!

 

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon sued Elon Musk over a canceled X deal even though a contract was never signed. 

“The Don Lemon Show” was canceled after Don Lemon interviewed Elon Musk earlier this year.

“Elon Musk is mad at me, and I just put out a statement about what happened between him, me and the interview that he is apparently so upset about,” Don Lemon said in a video posted to X.

WATCH:

Elon Musk canceled #TheDonLemonShow

Watch on YouTube and listen everywhere on Monday March 18. pic.twitter.com/AAhnvcY0ny

— Don Lemon (@donlemon) March 13, 2024

The New York Times reported:

Don Lemon, the former CNN anchor, sued Elon Musk and X on Thursday, arguing that the billionaire refused to pay him after a content deal with the social media platform fell apart.

Mr. Lemon agreed in January to take his new show to X, which Mr. Musk owns, as part of the platform’s effort to create premium content to attract advertisers. Mr. Musk agreed to pay Mr. Lemon $1.5 million annually to produce videos exclusively on X, to give him a share of the advertising revenue from his videos and to award Mr. Lemon additional cash incentives as his account gained followers, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco.

Mr. Musk also agreed to be Mr. Lemon’s first guest on the show. But the March interview quickly devolved as Mr. Lemon asked the billionaire about his drug use and politics. Shortly after, Mr. Musk canceled the deal.

Mr. Lemon did not sign a contract cementing the agreement, which he believed would be a launchpad for his new show after CNN fired him last year, the lawsuit said. Mr. Musk told him during a phone call that there was no need to “fill out paperwork” and reassured Mr. Lemon that X would financially support the show even if he did not like the views Mr. Lemon espoused, according to the court filing.

Earlier this year Elon Musk explained why Don Lemon’s show was canceled.

“His approach was basically just “CNN, but on social media”, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying,” Musk said on X.

“And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity,” Musk said. “All this said, Lemon/Zucker are of course welcome to build their viewership on this platform along with everyone else.”

His approach was basically just “CNN, but on social media”, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying.

And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.

All this said, Lemon/Zucker are…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 13, 2024