Don Lemon says Elon Musk has canceled his deal for a show on X
TechCrunchMAR 21 2024
Former CNN host Don Lemon on Thursday sued Elon Musk and his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) after the $1.5M one-year deal to host a talk show on X fell apart.
After Lemon's exit from CNN last year over controversial comments about Nikki Haley, Musk reached out to him to launch a new show on X.
However, after just one episode of "The Don Lemon Show" — in which Musk was the guest and was asked about his drug use and hate speech on X — Musk abruptly canceled the deal.
Musk and X sought Lemon to revitalize the platform after dozens of advertisers pulled out over its content moderation policies. Musk must compensate and pay for damages after unfairly terminating the multi-million-dollar partnership deal.
Besides promising Lemon 60% of gross advertising revenue, Musk had agreed to pay Lemon several financial perks. Musk has shown enough generosity, and he can't be forced to satisfy Lemon's greed — he had reportedly demanded a $5M upfront — and receive brickbats in return.