The X honcho reportedly blew up a deal with the former CNN host in March
A day after Don Lemon sued Elon Musk and X over a canceled deal for a talk show, the X honcho has offered a curt explanation. “He made a series of impressively insane demands,” Musk alleged in a post. “We declined. Therefore, there was no deal.”
Musk did not elaborate on the “insane demands” or address any of Lemon’s allegations in the lawsuit. Reps for X and Lemon did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s requests for comment.
On Thursday, Lemon filed a suit against Musk and the social media platform alleging fraud, negligent misrepresentation, misappropriation of name and likeness, and breach of express contract. Lemon, who left CNN last year, had made just one episode of a talk show for X, in which he interviewed Musk, when Musk reportedly kiboshed the whole deal in March. Lemon reportedly asked Musk about his alleged ketamine usage and his opinions about the election this year. Musk then allegedly sent a text to Lemon’s agent with the words “contract is canceled.”
Lemon claimed in the suit that Musk and X would pay him $1.5 million for a one-year exclusive deal. They would pay him $200,000 up front and the remainder quarterly and bonuses based on ad revenue and other perks. The suit alleges there was a verbal agreement in place but no formal contract since Musk allegedly said there was no need to “fill out paperwork.”
In March, Musk offered another glib explanation of why he squeezed out The Don Lemon Show. “His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media,’ which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying,” Musk wrote in a post. In the same message, he also claimed that former CNN president Jeff Zucker was “talking through Don.”