Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has filed a lawsuit against billionaire Elon Musk and his social media platform X (formerly Twitter), alleging fraud and breach of contract after their content partnership abruptly ended in March.
CBS News reports that, according to the lawsuit, Musk and X had promised Lemon full creative control over his content, even if the Tesla CEO and his executives disliked it. The deal, which was supposed to guarantee Lemon $1.5 million in the first year, never materialized, and the former anchor claims he never received any payment.
Lemon’s attorney, Carney R. Shegerian, stated in an email to CBS MoneyWatch that the case is “straightforward.” He alleged that X executives used Lemon to bolster their advertising sales pitch, only to cancel the partnership and damage his reputation. “You don’t have to be a genius to see the fraud, negligence, and reputational damage here,” Shegerian said, adding that Lemon is committed to defending his name and looks forward to their day in court.
The content deal, which was highly publicized, fell apart less than five months after its announcement and just days before the first broadcast was set to air on X in March. Musk criticized Lemon’s approach, calling it “basically just ‘CNN, but on social media.’”
Lemon released the first episode on social media after the deal was canceled, featuring a sometimes tense conversation with Musk. In the interview, the billionaire defended his prescription usage of ketamine, claiming it helped alleviate a “negative chemical mind state.” Musk also complained about Lemon’s questioning style, describing it as “not cogent.”
The lawsuit alleges that Musk and his representatives, including X CEO Linda Yaccarino, intentionally misrepresented their intentions. Lemon claims they aimed to capitalize on his name and professional status to rehabilitate X’s reputation after major advertisers left the platform following Musk’s endorsement of an allegedly antisemitic post.
Lemon states that he incurred “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to establish his own media company to produce content for X.
Read more at CBS News here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
