Make sure you pay up, Musk!
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon accused X CEO Elon Musk of fraud and breach of a $1.5 million contract after the billionaire abruptly canceled a content deal due to a tense interview, CBS News reports.
The lawsuit claims Musk and X promised Lemon that he would have “full authority and control over the work he produced even if disliked” by the Tesla founder and his leadership team. Lemon’s suit comes close to five months after the highly anticipated content deal fell apart before it officially started. X announced the arrangement cancellation just days before its premiere broadcast was scheduled to air March 2023.
Musk labeled the journalist’s approach, at the time, as “basically just ‘CNN, but on social media.'”
Lemon also alleges he never received any pay for his deal which according to the lawsuit, “guaranteed” $1.5 million in the first year.
The first episode of The Don Lemon Show featuring Musk came across X timelines shortly after the deal ended. Viewers saw a seemingly intense conversation between the two men after the billionaire defended the use of hate speech on the platform under his leadership and claimed hate speech has decreased after Lemon provided proof that it has gone up. Musk said analysts will count the number of posts and not the number of views.
Social media users found the exchange entertaining, in particular the way Lemon made Musk stutter.
“Don Lemon did a great job pressing him on the statements Elon made. And to see him stutter his way out of it was as painful to watch,” @ronniebstats wrote.
The billionaire also defended his prescription usage of ketamine, saying the drug helped to alleviate a “negative chemical mind state.” During the interview, Musk complained about the tone of Lemon’s questions, describing the questions as “not cogent.”
According to Forbes, Lemon, who claims Musk refused to pay him after the deal crumbled, added negligent misrepresentation, misappropriation of name and likeness and unjust enrichment to the lawsuit.
Musk and his representatives, including X CEO Linda Yaccarino, are also being blamed for “deliberately misrepresented what they intended to do,” after claiming hopes to capitalize on Lemon’s name and professional stature in efforts to rehabilitate X’s once failing reputation following the departure of major advertisers as a result of Musk’s antisemitic post endorsements.
The media host alleges “hundreds of thousands of dollars” was incurred to create his own media company in effort to produce X content.
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