Aug 02, 2024 - 05:31
By cnbc.com

Elon Musk sued by ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon over canceled X deal

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon sued Elon Musk, alleging he used news of a partnership deal with the journalist to boost the company's profile, then reneged on the deal without compensating him.
Lemon had "incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses" in preparing for the show, the lawsuit alleges.
Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and later renamed it X.

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon sued Elon Musk on Thursday, accusing him of making false promises to entice the journalist into a canceled deal to host a show on the billionaire's social media platform.

The lawsuit alleges that Musk — who bought Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and later renamed it X — used news of a partnership with Lemon to boost the media company's profile, then reneged on the deal without compensating him.

Lemon had "incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses" in preparing for the show, the lawsuit alleges.

The deal to host "The Don Lemon Show" on X was scrapped in March, shortly after the taping of its premiere episode, a one-on-one interview with Musk.

"We had a good conversation. Clearly he felt differently," Lemon said of Musk when he announced that the partnership had fallen apart.

Musk later said on X that Lemon's approach "was basically just 'CNN, but on social media,' which doesn't work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying."