Don Lemon sues Elon Musk and X over terminated talkshow deal | X

The former CNN anchor Don Lemon has sued Elon Musk and X over a cancelled deal with the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

His filing in California superior court in San Francisco includes claims of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, misappropriation of Lemon’s name and likeness, and breach of express contract.

Musk abruptly terminated a planned partnership with Lemon in March, hours after Lemon filmed an interview with him. Shortly after the interview concluded, Musk texted Lemon, “contract terminated”, according to Lemon.

Carney Shegerian, an attorney for Lemon, said: “This case is straightforward. X executives used Don to prop up their advertising sales pitch, then canceled their partnership and dragged Don’s name through the mud.

“You don’t have to be a genius to see the fraud, negligence and reputational damage here. Don is an accomplished and hard-hitting journalist who’s committed to defending his good name and holding X’s executives accountable. We look forward to our day in court.”

When the Guardian contacted X for comment, its press inbox generated the automatic response: “Busy now, please check back later.”

Lemon was previously one of CNN’s marquee talents before internal conflicts and a poorly received run as host of a morning show led the network to fire him in April 2023.

Linda Yaccarino, the CEO of X who joined the firm last year, initially reached out to Lemon’s agent several months after his termination from CNN with an offer to create a new show that would stream on X. The company announced its deal with Lemon in January, in a statement that declared X was now a “video-first platform”.

Lemon’s first episode for the platform was set to be an hour-long interview in March with Musk at Tesla’s Austin headquarters. The interview quickly became tense and awkward as Lemon questioned Musk on a variety of issues from his thoughts on white privilege and opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion programs to his ketamine usage and the rise of antisemitic content on the platform.

Musk became visibly upset at numerous times during the interview, telling Lemon: “The only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it.”

Musk claimed that he axed the show over its creative direction, posting that it was too similar to CNN’s content and alleging Lemon was a mouthpiece for former network president Jeff Zucker.

In many ways, Lemon was a strange fit for the platform. Musk has become more overtly conservative and opposed to critical news outlets in recent years, most recently vowing full support for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election and promoting a range of rightwing posts that include anti-trans and anti-immigration rhetoric.

Musk and Yaccarino’s attempt to court influencers and cable news personalities such as Lemon was part of the platform’s pivot towards videos and creator content. Although Musk managed to woo former Fox News host Tucker Carlson to air a show on X, he has otherwise largely failed to attract mainstream talent to the platform.

A rise in extremism and degradation of content moderation following his takeover has also pushed away big-name advertisers.