Don Lemon Sues Elon Musk Over Canceled X Talk Show: Musk Used 'False Promises,' Lawsuit Alleges

Former CNN host Don Lemon has sued the billionaire owner of X, Elon Musk, over Musk’s cancelation of Lemon’s show on the social media platform last year.

What Happened: Lemon filed the lawsuit against Musk and X on Thursday, citing the “false promises” made by Musk, according to the Washington Post.

"Executives used Don to prop up their advertising sales pitch, then canceled their partnership and dragged Don's name through the mud," Lemon's attorney, Carney Shegerian, told the Post. "Don is an accomplished and hard-hitting journalist who's committed to defending his good name and holding X's executives accountable."

The lawsuit alleges that Musk agreed to pay Lemon $1.5 million to make videos exclusively on X for one year. Lemon then spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to create his own media company and hire production staff.

Lemon’s first episode of his show featured an interview with Musk. The Tesla Inc CEO, who rarely does interviews with journalists, expressed dissatisfaction with Lemon’s line of questioning. Lemon asked questions about Musk’s involvement in politics, business decisions and frequent drug use.

Musk then terminated the planned partnership with Lemon. Lemon was later told that he wouldn't be paid the agreed sum because there was no signed agreement, "despite Musk previously representing to Lemon that there would be no need for a formal written agreement or to ‘fill out paperwork,'” the lawsuit alleges.

Lemon’s subsequent episodes received little attention compared to his Musk interview.

Musk cited the format of Lemon’s show as the rationale for not picking it up for a long-term deal.

“His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn't work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying,” Musk posted on X. CNN fired Lemon in 2023.

Reporting by the New York Post contradicted Lemon’s account. The conservative-leaning newspaper alleged that Lemon requested a Tesla Cybertruck, $5 million and an equity stake in X to host the exclusive show.

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