In a surprising turn of events, Don Lemon has officially left Elon Musk's X less than a year after the platform announced "The Don Lemon Show" would feature prominently. The show had been slated to appear three times a week on X as well as on YouTube and other platforms. Despite initial excitement surrounding the collaboration, the partnership was not exclusive, which left room for unexpected developments.
The unraveling of the deal began with Lemon's inaugural episode, where he interviewed Musk as his first guest. During the conversation, Lemon addressed controversial topics, including Musk's reported ketamine usage, his views on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and X's content moderation policies. The probing questions visibly unsettled Musk, who soon after canceled the agreement. In a terse message to Lemon's agent, Musk declared, "contract is canceled."
Lemon responded by filing a lawsuit in federal court against Musk and X in August. The legal action alleges that Lemon was misled into a business arrangement under false pretenses. Although the deal was never officially signed, the lawsuit claims that contract negotiations between X and Lemon disintegrated before reaching fruition.
The legal battle continues as X's new terms of service, effective this Friday, specify that all disputes must be adjudicated in a northern Texas court. In September, Musk sought to have the lawsuit dismissed by a federal judge, suggesting the case remains unresolved.
