Don Lemon's X partnership is dunzo -- his deal falling apart before the first episode could even air ... and he blames his Elon Musk interview, where he apparently struck a nerve.
The former CNN anchor took to social media Wednesday to announce the end of his exclusive deal with Elon's platform -- both via written statement and in a short video he posted to X, ironically enough.
First guest. @elonmusk like you’ve never seen him before.
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) March 12, 2024
You won’t want to miss this. #TheDonLemonShow pic.twitter.com/hEBGBAoqdp
The way Don explains it ... he sat down with Elon Friday to interview him for the first episode of "The Don Lemon Show," saying he wanted to speak with Musk as his debut guest because Elon considers himself a major proponent of free speech.
Don said the interview had no off-limit topics, and -- even though DL admits the convo got tense at times ... ultimately, he says he felt it was a good, fair back-and-forth.
However, it sounds like Musk didn't feel the same way according to Lemon ... who claims his deal with X -- agreed upon just two months ago -- was terminated mere hours after their interview wrapped.
Lemon told his fans he worked with X because he's a believer in free speech and wanted his message to reach a mass audience ... and, getting "fired" from X ain't stopping the former CNN anchor from airing it on the platform and elsewhere.
Lemon says he's still dropping the interview in all its glory Monday, March 18 on YouTube and X as well -- seemingly a big middle finger to EM and co. He's also gonna carry on with the show without X's backing ... so, the "The Don Lemon Show" is still on.
SCOOP: As I told him would happen, @donlemon, the owner of this platform Elon Musk sent a terse text to his reps: “Contract terminated” after an interview Lemon did with Musk last Friday that was not to the adult toddler’s liking, including questions about his ketamine use.
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) March 13, 2024
As for exactly what the two discussed ... we don't know much, but reports are floating around Don asked some hard-hitting questions -- including queries about Musk's use of ketamine.
BTW ... Lemon apparently still thinks X owes him money -- with a spokesperson for Don telling news site Puck he's willing to go to court for the cash he believes is owed ... to be continued, we suppose.
X is a platform that champions free speech, and we’re proud to provide an open environment for diverse voices and perspectives. The Don Lemon Show is welcome to publish its content on X, without censorship, as we believe in providing a platform for creators to scale their work…
— Business (@XBusiness) March 13, 2024
For their part, X is saying their platform is all about free speech, and Don can freely post whatever he wants ... but also X is still a business and can choose to begin or end partnerships with businesses as it sees fit.
His approach was basically just “CNN, but on social media”, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 13, 2024
And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.
All this said, Lemon/Zucker are…
As for Elon ... he responded to a Mark Zuckerberg parody account on X -- and claimed Don was still doing his CNN shtick, just on X -- and he said he felt Don was just parroting his old boss at the network, Jeff Zucker. EM also says he felt Don was putting on an act and not being his authentic self ... which was apparently enough for him to scrap their deal.
Seems like lots of bad blood on both sides ... and we're sure it's not over yet.