Don Lemon Sues Elon Musk and X Over Partnership Deal That Fell Apart

Andy Kropa/Invision/AP; AP Photo/Michel Euler, File

Don Lemon filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk and X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday over a failed content deal, accusing Musk of using the former CNN anchor’s reputation to promote the billionaire’s social media platform but then trashing him after an interview went awry.

In January, it was announced that Lemon would be launching a new program, The Don Lemon Show , on X — but the show was dead on arrival, with Musk nixing the deal before the premiere episode even aired in March.

The breaking point was the first interviewee: Musk himself. After the interview had been recorded, Lemon posted that Musk “has canceled the partnership I had with X,” and had “informed me of his decision hours after an interview I conducted with him on Friday.” Musk posted his own retort, accusing Lemon of having an “approach” that “was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media'” and “lack[ing] authenticity” by acting as “really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don” instead of “the real Don Lemon.”

Lemon released the video of Musk, whom he described as the most “sensitive or touchy” person he had ever interviewed. It started out friendly , but Musk became increasingly uncomfortable and agitated as the interview went on, eventually ending the interview abruptly and walking out.

And now the breakdown of the partnership has led to a lawsuit. As The New York Times reported , Lemon did not have a formal written contract, although that does not preclude being able to bring a breach of contract based on the understanding of their deal from verbal conversations, emails, and other communications:

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.

The lawsuit describes the deal with Lemon as the brainchild of Linda Yaccarino , the CEO Musk tapped to help him clean up backlash over “a surge in misinformation and hate speech,” reported the Times .

At Yaccarino’s urging, Lemon attended CES, a Las Vegas-based annual tech conference, with her to announce his new show. According to the complaint, Lemon was told by X employees that the deal for the show would be off if he didn’t attend. He did show up and Yaccarino lauded the announcement as “memorable and a big turning point” and “a new chapter for X” in a message to Lemon afterwards.

Lemon’s complaint seeks unspecified damages for multiple causes of action including fraud, negligent misrepresentation, misappropriation of name and likeness, breach of express contract, and unjust enrichment.

Carney Shegerian , one of Lemon’s attorneys, released a statement about the lawsuit, as reported by Variety :

This case is straightforward. X executives used Don to prop up their advertising sales pitch, then canceled their partnership and dragged Don’s name through the mud. You don’t have to be a genius to see the fraud, negligence, and reputational damage here. Don is an accomplished and hard-hitting journalist who’s committed to defending his good name and holding X’s executives accountable. We look forward to our day in court.

Read the full complaint here .