Elon Musk defends cutting Don Lemon's X deal: His approach was 'CNN, but on social media' which 'doesn’t work'

X owner Elon Musk is defending his decision to cancel his platform's partnership with Don Lemon, claiming the former anchor was approaching his forthcoming show as "CNN, but on social media."

Lemon made a splash on social media Wednesday, revealing Musk had canceled his contract, saying the billionaire tech tycoon was "mad" at him over the interview Lemon conducted on Friday.

But when asked about why he cut Lemon, Musk suggested Lemon couldn't shake off his CNN "approach."

DON LEMON DROPPED BY X, CLAIMS ELON MUSK RETALIATED OVER THEIR INTERVIEW: HE'S ‘MAD AT ME’

"His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying," Musk told an X user Wednesday. "And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity. All this said, Lemon/Zucker are of course welcome to build their viewership on this platform along with everyone else."

A spokesperson for Lemon leveled a legal threat towards X, telling Puck News, "Don has a deal with X and expects to be paid for it. If we have to go to court we will."

X announced in January that it had inked a deal with Lemon, along with other talent, to produce content on the platform.

But that came to a crashing halt on Wednesday for Lemon, after the former CNN star had interviewed Musk on Friday as his inaugural guest on "The Don Lemon Show," which was set to launch next week.

"Elon Musk has canceled the partnership I had with X, which they announced as part of their public commitment to amplifying more diverse voices on their platform. He informed me of his decision hours after an interview I conducted with him on Friday," Lemon wrote in a statement posted on social