The Partnership Between X and Don Lemon Didn’t Last Very Long

Maybe you heard that Don Lemon was coming back with a new online show, similar to what Tucker Carlson has been doing. In fact, Lemon was specifically encouraged to do so by Elon Musk who invited him to start a show on X. Lemon took him up on that offer and some kind of business agreement was reached recently. But it didn’t last long.

Lemon decided the first person to interview for his new show would be Elon himself and that interview apparently didn’t go well. Now Lemon says that Elon is mad at him and Elon says X will not be a partner in Lemon’s show.

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

The rest of it reads:

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.

Asked what led to the change, Elon responded:

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…

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 13, 2024

The rest reads:

All this said, Lemon/Zucker are of course welcome to build their viewership on this platform along with everyone else.

So Musk isn’t kicking him off the platform, just declining to pay for the show. Don Lemon is using the change of heart to promote the interview which will still be released this Monday. Here he is, clearly pleased with himself, announcing that Elon Musk is mad at him.

BREAKING:

Former CNN commentator Don Lemon claims that X’s Elon Musk has just cancelled his deal on X for the Don Lemon show because he didn’t like his interview with Elon which was filmed recently.

Lemon says that in the interview ‘Hardcore Questions Were Asked’. It was… pic.twitter.com/hgUlyX7tuZ

— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) March 13, 2024

Got to hand it to Lemon here. Pissing off Elon Musk is a great way to promote a new show to liberal viewers.

This is the fable of the scorpion and the frog come to life. Lemon convinced the Elon to give him a ride across the river but like the scorpion in the fable, he takes the very first opportunity to repay Musk’s kindness by taking shots at him in an interview. Why do this? Because Lemon is a liberal hack first and foremost. It’s what he is.

I sort of think Musk should have seen this coming, but it seems he expected a little more from Lemon. As flaws go, expecting people to be a better than they are isn’t the worst thing you could say about someone. Nevertheless, Lemon is really working the anti-Elon angle for clicks. No doubt his audience will love it.

You canceled my contract after our interview. I don’t think you believe in free speech. https://t.co/rD6BJIzStZ

— Don Lemon (@donlemon) March 13, 2024

Free speech does not guarantee employment for Don Lemon. If that were true that CNN was anti-free speech when it fired him. In this case, X already said he could post his show on the platform like everyone else. But Lemon just keeps milking this for all its worth.