Elon Musk abruptly scraps his partnership with former CNN anchor Don Lemon – Here’s why

Elon Musk’s social media network X’s and Don Lemon’s collaboration ended abruptly. Shortly after the former CNN anchor interviewed the billionaire, X (formerly known as Twitter) terminated its business relationship with him, the company announced on the platform on Wednesday. The interview was supposed to air on March 18 during the premiere of “The Don Lemon show” on X.

Don Lemon said, “Musk is mad at me”

Lemon will contribute his “unique and honest voice” to the service in three 30-minute episodes every week, according to an announcement made by X in January. At the same time, the company debuted two more news programs with former ESPN star Jim Rome and U.S. congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.

However, Musk mocked Lemon’s strategy on Wednesday, calling it “basically just ‘CNN, but on social media.'”

X stated that Lemon is “welcome to publish its content on X, without censorship, as we believe in providing a platform for creators to scale their work and connect with new communities.”

In a video posted on his own X account, Lemon said “Musk is mad at me.”

“Throughout our conversation, I kept reiterating to him that although it was tense at times, I thought it was good for people to see and hear our exchange and that they would learn from our conversation,” Lemon said.

Lemon continued, saying that his interview with Musk would be available on YouTube and as a podcast on March 18. “Apparently free speech absolutism doesn’t apply when it comes to questions about him from people like me,” Lemon said.

On social media, Musk has frequently declared his support for unrestricted speech and referred to himself as a “free speech absolutist.”

After working for CNN for 17 years, Lemon was let go in 2023. His dismissal occurred just over two months after he issued an apology for remarks he had made during his brief tenure as the network’s morning show host regarding then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley not being in “her prime”.