Don Lemon Sues Elon Musk Over His Cancelled X Show

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon is suing his once-employer, Elon Musk, aft Musk strangled Lemon’s X-hosted speech amusement successful the womb pursuing an adversarial interrogation betwixt the 2 of them.

Back successful January, Musk announced that Lemon would beryllium hosting a amusement connected X. At the time, rightwing programming connected X—including shows headed by Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, and Alex Jones—were each taking off. In an evident effort to showcase his fealty to the conception of “fairness,” Musk advertised an upcoming programme led by the erstwhile CNN anchor. The Don Lemon Show, Musk said, would beryllium that the “digital municipality quadrate is for all,” meaning that X was a spot that supported ideologies of each stripes. However, to footwear disconnected his show, Lemon made the fateful determination to grounds and aerial an hour-long, un-edited interviewed with Musk himself—a determination that instantly led to the show’s cancellation.

Lemon took the kid gloves disconnected for the interview, battering the tech mogul with a flurry of questions astir everything from trans rights to Musk’s adversarial relationship with X’s advertisers, to the emergence successful hatred code connected the platform, to the billionaire’s own cause use. At 1 point, pinned down by ongoing rhetorical fire, Musk fell backmost connected claims made successful his Walter-Isaacson-penned hagiography, claiming his “tough childhood” helped explicate wherefore helium was specified an “intense person” (arguably, this operation whitethorn person been Lemon’s codeword for “asshole”).

At immoderate rate, Musk seemingly didn’t bask the interrogation precise much, due to the fact that Lemon’s amusement was cancelled a time later. “Apparently, escaped code absolutism doesn’t use erstwhile it comes to questions astir him from radical similar me,” said Lemon, in a video posted to X, soon aft the woody was nuked.

Now, Lemon has sued some Musk and X, and claims that helium was tricked into the concern statement nether “false pretenses.” The lawsuit accuses X executives and Musk of providing Lemon with “false promises and representations,” noting that portion Lemon was told helium would beryllium entering into a profitable, long-lasting concern relationship, the existent “purpose” of the concern was to temporarily usage Lemon’s “name, likeness, reputation, and individuality to rehabilitate Defendants estimation and gully successful advertisers to the X platform.” The suit notes the drastic downturn successful advertizing gross that X suffered conscionable anterior to the deal.

Lemon says that helium was promised “full authorization and power implicit the enactment helium produced adjacent if disliked by Defendants.” However, aft Lemon spent hundreds of thousands of dollars forming a company, hiring staff, and establishing a accumulation abstraction for the show, Musk enactment the kibosh connected the show, texting Lemon’s lawyer that the “contract is cancelled” a specified time aft their interview, the suit claims.

Lemon has continued to nutrient his show, and adjacent promotes segments of it connected X, though the franchise would person seemingly been overmuch much profitable had the declaration with the level continued. The suit claims X had offered to wage Lemon $1.5 cardinal a year, during which clip helium would person been obligated to make 1 portion of “long-form” contented per week, arsenic good arsenic 10 pieces of short-form contented a month. Additionally, Lemon would person been entitled to “60 percent of the gross advertizing gross that X received for programmatic advertising” generated by his content.

The suit claims that the X enactment yet “failed to compensate him, citing to mendacious pretenses for their breach of the concern agreement.” The suit present seeks economical damages, punitive damages, and compensation for attorneys’ fees, among different things.

Gizmodo reached retired to Musk via X and volition update this communicative if helium responds.