Don Lemon is suing Elon Musk and X over the cancellation of his deal with the social media platform. Lemon alleges that Musk promised him freedom to produce content on the show, but after advertisers left Twitter following Musk’s takeover, Musk began courting Lemon to rehabilitate the platform’s image.
Lemon entered an exclusive partnership deal with X in January 2024, after months of negotiations. The deal guaranteed $1.5 million, including a $200,000 upfront payment. Lemon was expected to produce 10 short-form videos and one long-form video per week, exclusively publishing that content on X for 24 hours before posting it on other platforms.
The deal fell apart in March after a contentious interview with Musk, where Lemon probed Musk about his politics, drug use, and the increase in hate speech on X since he took over. Musk told Lemon he was only doing the interview because Lemon was on the X platform and had asked for it. Afterward, Lemon learned that the deal was canceled via a text from Musk to his agent.
Lemon is seeking damages, claiming that Musk’s actions were fraudulent, negligent, and breached their contract.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/1/24211356/don-lemon-elon-musk-x-lawsuit-talk-show-canceled