Former CNN personality Don Lemon’s partnership with X ended abruptly after Elon Musk pulled the plug on Lemon’s show.
Musk sat down with Lemon for an interview intended to air as the inaugural episode of the former CNN host’s new show on the social media platform X. The interview between the duo seemingly went poorly as Lemon asked the man paying his new salary, Musk, about his drug use and insinuated Musk is racist.
Musk later claimed the interview was “CNN on social media” and reportedly texted colleagues to nix the show with Lemon.
Following the termination of the X deal, Lemon took to Instagram to insinuate that Musk is racist for disliking Lemon’s line of questioning.
“Throughout our conversation, I keep reiterating to him — although it was tense at times — I thought it was good for people to see our exchange,” Lemon said. “But, apparently, free-speech absolutism doesn’t apply when it comes to questions about him from people like me.”
The business account for X responded to Lemon’s accusations by stating that Lemon is welcome to post on the platform, though the company would prefer not to do business with him.
“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 and connect with new communities,” the X Business account said in part. “However, like any enterprise, we reserve the right to make decisions about our business partnerships, and after careful consideration, X decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.”
Lemon was fired from CNN in April of 2023 over allegations that he was mistreating colleagues during the network’s morning show.
