“I am back bigger, bolder, freer,” said former CNN host Don Lemon this January following news that a project called “The Don Lemon Show” would premiere on X.
After just one interview with X owner Elon Musk, the show’s partnership with the platform has been canceled. Here’s how it all went down.
Audacy reported last spring that Lemon was out of his job at CNN after 17 years with the company. He said in a post on X (then Twitter) that he was “stunned” and that he thought it was “clear there are some larger issues at play.”
“He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter,” the network said in response. Shortly before Lemon left CNN, Variety published a story about his pattern of “misogyny” at the network. Lemon also reportedly faced backlash for comments made on air about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s age, per NBC News.
“Have you considered doing your show on this platform? Maybe worth a try,” said Musk in a May 2023 response to Lemon’s post. “Audience is much bigger.”
When news about his new show with X broke this January, Audacy reported that “The Don Lemon Show” would run three 30-minute episodes per week on the platform covering politics, culture, sports and entertainment. X said Lemon would provide his “unique and honest voice” as the show’s host.
In a March 6 response on X, Lemon said the show would premiere this month. This Wednesday, Lemon posted a statement on X in which he said Musk had “canceled the partnership” he had with X.
“He informed me of this decision hours after an interview I conducted with him on Friday,” it said. In the statement, Lemon said there were no restrictions on the interview.
CNN shared a portion of it in which Lemon questions Musk about X’s hate speech policies.
“Hate speech on the platform… is up. Do you believe X – and you – have some responsibility to moderate hate speech on the platform?” Lemon asked. “That you wouldn’t have to answer these questions from reporters about The Great Replacement theory… as it relates to Jewish people…”
“I don’t have to answer questions from reporters,” said Musk. “Don, the only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform, and you asked for it.”
“He seemed really averse to facts. That facts did not matter to him,” said Lemon of the interview in an interview with Erin Burnett. “It didn’t matter that he retweeted things that were offensive to people.”
Per CNN, Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory last year and it resulted in advertisers leaving X.
“Only then, days afterward, did Musk publicly express remorse for his actions,” said the outlet.
Late last year, the company posted about its “ongoing commitment to combat antisemitism,” on the platform. This January, it also released a message about “information independence” and “combating hate speech” on X.
According to Lemon, his interview with Musk will still be the debut episode of the new show. Materials available on his X account and his website indicate it will premiere March 18 and can be found on YouTube.
CNN reported that Lemon also asked Musk about a recent meeting he held with former President Donald Trump. Musk reportedly said that he was at a friend’s house for dinner when Trump came by. While reports last week indicated that Trump asked Musk for campaign donations, Musk said the former president and current GOP presidential candidate frontrunner did not ask him for money.
Multiple outlets have noted Musk’s political shift to the right. Around the same time Lemon was out at CNN, conservative host Tucker Carlson was out at FOX News. He also launched a show on X.
“Elon Musk is mad at me,” Lemon said in a follow-up video posted to X in which he questioned Musk’s claim to be a free speech absolutist (CNN also said Musk has gone after journalists and critics in the past). He added that the situation with Musk did not change anything about the show going forward.
In a statement, X said Lemon is free to publish his content on X even though it decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.
“But a spokesperson for Lemon told CNN that the media personality expects Musk to honor the financial terms of the agreement,” said the outlet. It noted that Lemon had not technically inked a contract with X, citing people familiar with the matter.
Musk has also weighed in on the situation himself via X posts.
“His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying,” he said in one post. In another, he said Lemon “is welcome to monetize on this platform, just like everyone else,” and “we aren’t going to do is guarantee minimum payments to him, as he was demanding, which would be going beyond everyone else!”
In a Thursday response, Lemon shot back: “You weren’t nearly so skeptical when you and your CEO were asking me to exclusively partner with you. What changed?”