WTF?! Elon Musk has once again shown that he didn’t become a billionaire by having a calm temper. The CEO has canceled The Don Lemon Show, which was to be hosted exclusively on his social media platform X, a few hours after a “tense” interview between the pair that was supposed to be part of the show’s debut.
Speaking to CNN’s Erin Burnett, Lemon said he asked Musk a series of questions on a variety of topics during the 90-minute interview.
Lemon said one area where he pushed Musk, who makes no secret about his dislike of reporters, was the amount of hate speech on X. The interviewer wanted to know if Musk and his company felt they had a responsibility to moderate hateful content on the platform.
“I don’t have to answer questions from reporters, Don,” Musk replied. “The only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it. Otherwise, I would not do this interview.”
Elon Musk absolutely DESTROYED Don Lemon in his interview. Here’s a snippet. Watch it. pic.twitter.com/0V93RooPAy
– Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 14, 2024
Lemon asked Musk about his recent meeting with Donald Trump, to which Musk emphasized that the former president had not asked him for money. There was also a question about Musk’s use of ketamine and whether it would be an issue for his government security clearance. Musk said it wouldn’t as he has a prescription for the drug.
Lemon said that Musk texted him a few hours after the interview concluded. The message read, “contract terminated.”
Lemon said that he would still air the show on YouTube and on X this coming Monday (March 18).
Elon Musk canceled #TheDonLemonShow�’�
Watch on YouTube and listen everywhere on Monday March 18. pic.twitter.com/AAhnvcY0ny
– Don Lemon (@donlemon) March 13, 2024
Musk’s explanation for why the show was being canceled came in the form of a post that read, “His [Lemon’s] approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying. And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.”
Thirty-minute episodes of the Don Lemon show had been set to run on X three times per week. The former CNN star was fired from the network last April due to internal disputes with other staff and his short and disastrous run as a morning show host.
In a reply to Lemon’s announcement that he had been fired from CNN, Musk asked if he’d consider doing his show on the social media site, which Musk claimed has a bigger audience than the TV network.
“Elon publicly encouraged me to join X with a new show, saying I would have his ‘full support’, and that his ‘digital town square is for all’,” Lemon said. “I took Elon and his management team’s word that they, for the first time, were interested in working directly with new and diverse voices.”
“While Elon goes back on his word, I will be doubling down on my commitment to free speech,”
Musk has a history of retaliating against those he believes have wronged him. Amid a feud with Disney boss Bob Iger in December, Musk removed the Disney+ app from some Tesla vehicles without giving owners a reason why.
