Elon Musk has abruptly pulled the plug on Don Lemon’s upcoming talk show on the X platform, after a tense inaugural interview between the former CNN anchor and the billionaire.
Lemon said Musk texted him to say “contract terminated”. He then shared a post and a video on X discussing the interview and the outcome. “Elon Musk is mad at me,” he said. “His commitment to a global town square where all questions can be asked and all ideas can be shared seems not to include questions of him from people like me,” he elaborated.
Elon Musk canceled #TheDonLemonShow????
Watch on YouTube and listen everywhere on Monday March 18. pic.twitter.com/AAhnvcY0ny
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) March 13, 2024
“Throughout our conversation, I kept reiterating to him that although it was tense at times, I thought it was good for people to see and hear our exchange, and that they would learn from our conversation,” he said in the video.
Why did Elon Musk cancel the Don Lemon show on X?
Musk, who owns X, posted on the site about the decision, and the company’s official account stated: “after careful consideration, X decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.”
When pressed for a specific reason, the 52-year-old himself stated that he believed Lemon was taking the wrong approach.
“His 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. All this said, Lemon/Zucker are of course welcome to build their viewership on this platform along with everyone else,” said his post.
He clarified that Don Lemon is welcome to share and host the show on X, but there will be no commercial agreement between the entities.
???? is welcome to monetize on this platform, just like everyone else.
What we aren’t going to do is guarantee minimum payments to him, as he was demanding, which would be going beyond everyone else!
Unfortunately, all ???? wants to do is rehash the dying CNN business model “but…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2024
The talk show was announced in January as part of a way to encourage advertising revenue back to X after significant ad revenue losses. The interview with Elon was intended to be the first episode of the new venture. Don Lemon has stated that the show will be available across platforms including YouTube and X on Monday, March 18, and will include the interview with Musk, despite the dissolution of the partnership.
With news that X is coming to TVs, this seems like a serious blow to Musk’s plans to expand the platform.
Featured Image: midjourney
