Don Lemon, the former CNN anchor, has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk and X, alleging that the platform’s CEO reneged on a payment agreement for his premium video hosting deal. The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco, claims that Musk failed to honor a verbal agreement to pay Lemon $1.5 million per year, plus a share of advertising revenue, for producing content on X.
According to the lawsuit, Lemon and Musk reached a deal in January for Lemon to produce a news and interview show on the platform. However, Lemon claims that Musk told him that a written contract was not necessary, and that he would support the show regardless of its content. Lemon’s first episode, which featured an interview with Musk himself, touched on several sensitive topics, including Musk’s alleged use of ketamine, his views on transgender individuals, and his stance on diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring initiatives.
The interview also delved into Musk’s views on the “great replacement theory,” a racist ideology that has been widely debunked. Just hours after the interview aired, Musk texted Lemon to inform him that their deal was off. Lemon claims that he has not received any payment from X, despite his efforts to produce content for the platform.
The lawsuit comes as X is attempting to rebrand itself as a “video first” platform, with deals in place with several high-profile personalities, including Tulsi Gabbard and Jim Rome. However, many of these shows have yet to launch on the platform, raising questions about X’s commitment to its content creators.
