Elon Musk Launches Bizarre Attack on Don Lemon in Attempt to Explain Why He Canceled Their X Deal

Billionaire Elon Musk replied to Don Lemon on Wednesday after the ousted CNN host revealed that Musk canceled his deal to have a show on X after an apparently contentious interview.

“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. He informed me of his decision hours after an interview I conducted with him on Friday,” Lemon wrote on social media in a lengthy statement.

Musk, who owns X and has championed himself as a “free speech absolutist,” responded in a post of his own, saying:

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.

Tech journalist Kara Swisher added some details to what went down during the interview. Swisher reported that Musk “sent a terse text to his reps: ‘Contract terminated’ after an interview Lemon did with Musk last Friday that was not to the adult toddler’s liking, including questions about his ketamine use.”

Lemon also addressed the content of the interview in his statement, writing, “There were no restrictions on the interview that he willingly agreed to, and my questions were respectful and wide ranging, covering everything from SpaceX to the presidential election. We had a good conversation. Clearly he felt differently. 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.”

Lemon was set to join fellow fired cable news host Tucker Carlson on X and had praised Musk back in January when his deal with X had been announced, calling X under the Tesla billionaire “the biggest space for free speech in the world.”

Musk’s explanation came after tweeting his regular content, which included sharing a Fox News article with the caption, “Woke ideology wants you to die.”