Don Lemon sues Elon Musk and X over scrapped show deal

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon might still be sour over his deal between billionaire Elon Musk and social media platform X getting axed, as he is now suing the two.

The lawsuit , filed several months after Musk informed Lemon that their deal was off, claims that Musk and X convinced Lemon to make a heavy financial investment to start an online show “through false promises and representations.” The show, which debuted on March 18 this year, was released a little less than a year after Lemon parted ways with CNN.

“This case is straightforward,” Carney Shegerian, an attorney for Lemon, said in a statement . “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.”

The lawsuit claims that Lemon signed no contract when making this deal with Musk and X, as the billionaire told Lemon there was no need to “fill out paperwork.” Lemon was also informed that X would financially support his show even if there were a disagreement between his views and the ones held by X.

Musk was Lemon’s first guest on his show, and he and Lemon had an hour-long interview that discussed topics including free speech , Tesla , and the 2024 presidential race . Prior to his interview, the billionaire, who purchased Twitter and rebranded it as X, informed Lemon that their deal was off , and Lemon suspects their interview played a role in Musk’s decision.

On X, Musk explained that he chose to cancel the deal because Lemon’s approach to his show was “just ‘CNN, but on social media,’ which doesn’t work.” During his interview with Lemon, Musk expressed frustration that Lemon was not phrasing his questions as “cogent” and said the only reason he was doing the interview was because of the partnership deal that Lemon had.

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In March, it was reported that Lemon sent Musk a “wish list” for various things he wanted as part of his partnership with X, including an $8 million salary with a $5 million upfront payment, a Tesla Cybertruck, and having a role in changing policies on X. Lemon’s agent has denied these allegations .

The Washington Examiner has contacted Lemon for comment.