Former CNN anchor Don Lemon announced that his new online partnership with X (formerly Twitter), which intended to amplify "diverse voices" on the platform, was canceled after the interview he had with the platform's owner, SpaceX founder Elon Musk, went south.
News of the cancellation of The Don Lemon Show X partnership followed X CEO Linda Yaccarino's announcement on Tuesday that the social media platform would be a "video first platform."
Lemon said in a statement that Musk had publicly encouraged him to join X with a new show that would be given his full support.
He continued:
"I made the decision to work with them in a unique partnership that I believed would ultimately assure that my work would be available to most people, in the largest venue."
Lemon claimed "There were no restrictions on the interview that [Musk] willingly agreed to" and that his questions were "respectful and wide-ranging, covering everything from SpaceX to the presidential election."
However, Musk's pulling the plug on their collaboration indicated he felt differently even after he thought they had a "good conversation."
Said Lemon:
"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."
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Lemon followed the announcement with a video post expounding on the canceled X project after Musk, who proclaimed he was a free speech "absolutist", was extremely upset from their "tense" interview.
"Apparently, free speech absolutism doesn't apply when it comes to questions about him from people like me," he told followers in the video.
He also said the interview would still air in full on YouTube and even on X.
CNN aired select clips from the 90-minute interview that allegedly led to Musk's decision to pull the plug on his partnership with Lemon.
In one of the clips, Lemon asked if Musk and X had a responsibility to moderate hate speech on his platform given the rise in hateful and extremist content since his acquisition of X in October 2022.
You can see his awkward reply below.
Musk said:
“I don’t have to answer questions from reporters, Don."
“The only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it. Otherwise, I would not do this interview.”
Lemon also pressed him about a meeting Musk had with former Republican President Donald Trump.
CNN had previously confirmed news of the meeting between Musk and Trump.
The ex-President had been hosting donors at Mar-a-Lago in Florida seeking to raise money for his troubled campaign as he's been penalized over half a billion dollars across three civil cases, primarily for New York business fraud.
“I was at a breakfast at a friend’s place and Donald Trump came by. That’s it,” said Musk, adding that the GOP presidential frontrunner did “most of the talking.”
Musk confirmed he was "not paying [Trump's] legal bills in any way shape or form.”
In his Instagram video, Lemon said he was very much aware of the opposition to him teaming up with Musk but remained resolute in pursuing the partnership anyway.
He explained:
"I just want you to know that I did this deal not because not only do I believe in free speech, but I believed that this was the best possible chance for the work that I'm doing to reach the largest amount of people."
Social media users weighed in with their thoughts following Lemon's announcement.
The conversation continued on Instagram.
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Lemon said the interview will be the first episode of The Don Lemon Show which will be shown on YouTube on March 18.
Lemon also said he was posting the episode on X.
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