Don Lemon made a surprising announcement on Wednesday, revealing that his upcoming talk show on X had been canceled by owner Elon Musk. The former CNN anchor stated that Musk ended the partnership only hours after their first interview for the show.
Elon Musk has canceled the partnership I had with X, which they announced as part of their public commitment to amplifying more diverse voices on their platform.
– Don Lemon
In a statement released by Lemon, he shared that Musk had informed him of the decision shortly after they conducted a live interview on Friday.
He informed me of his decision hours after an interview I conducted with him on Friday.
– Don Lemon
Despite the canceled deal with X, The Don Lemon Show will still continue. Lemon confirmed that the interview with Musk would remain the premiere episode, set to release on March 18 on various platforms including YouTube, podcasts, and X.
Lemon, who was let go from CNN last year after 13 years with the network, expressed excitement for the upcoming episode and promised that there would be many more to come.
But in a statement from X’s business account, it was revealed that the social media company had decided to not pursue a commercial partnership with Lemon’s show.
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.
– X
However, the statement also stated that X reserves the right to make decisions regarding their business partnerships, and they have made the choice to not partner with The Don Lemon Show.
In his own post, Musk explained that the show’s approach was too similar to CNN and not suitable for a social media platform.
The show’s approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying.
– Elon Musk
Lemon defended his interview with Musk, stating that the questions asked were respectful and covered topics such as SpaceX and the presidential election. He described their conversation as a “good one,” but it seems Musk had a different perspective.
Lemon’s show was highly anticipated as one of the first original programs set to launch on X. Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino had been working on transforming the social media site into a “video first” platform. The show was expected to air three times a week exclusively on X, alongside two other original shows featuring former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and former Fox Sports host Jim Rome.
