After Testy Interview With Elon Musk, Don Lemon Says His Deal With X Is Canceled

Within the wake of a testy interview with Elon Musk, the previous tv anchor Don Lemon’s deal for a brand new speak present on X combusted simply days earlier than it was scheduled to air.

Mr. Musk referred to as off Mr. Lemon’s partnership with X, the social media platform previously often called Twitter, the day after filming an hour-and-a-half lengthy interview with the previous information anchor at SpaceX’s workplace in Austin, Texas. The dialog was sometimes tense, Mr. Lemon mentioned, as he requested probing questions in regards to the upcoming U.S. presidential elections, Mr. Musk’s reported drug use and his varied business ventures.

Mr. Lemon mentioned he would launch the interview on March 18 on YouTube and would proceed to share his content material on X. “My questions were respectful and wide ranging, covering everything from SpaceX to the presidential election,” Mr. Lemon mentioned in a statement. “We had a good conversation. Clearly he felt differently. His commitment to a global town square where all questions can be asked and all ideas can be shared seems not to include questions of him from people like me.”

Salespeople at X had been blindsided by the information of the abrupt cancellation, as they’d been working as just lately as Monday to trace the sale of advertisements for the present, based on an inside doc seen by The New York Instances.

The cancellation of a present that Mr. Musk pledged would have his “full support” is the newest self-inflicted enterprise disruption at X in current months. In November, Mr. Musk told advertisers not to spend on his platform, utilizing an expletive to dismiss them, and accused them of attempting to “blackmail” him after he appeared to endorse an anti-Semitic conspiracy idea on X. His feedback kicked off an expensive exodus.

Mr. Musk mentioned in a submit on X that Mr. Lemon’s present lacked originality. “His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media,’ which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying,” Mr. Musk wrote. “And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.”

Mr. Zucker, CNN’s former president, now leads a media-focused funding agency, referred to as RedBird IMI, and oversees EverWonder Studio, a manufacturing firm that gives providers to Mr. Lemon’s present.

Mr. Lemon was one in all a number of headline-grabbing figures, together with the previous Fox Information host Tucker Carlson and the previous Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, who’ve cast agreements this 12 months to supply long-form video content material on X, as a part of an effort by the platform to deliver on content material creators to generate premium content material that manufacturers would need to promote in opposition to.

X had agreed to throw its monetary help behind the creation of Mr. Lemon’s new enterprise, referred to as “The Don Lemon Show.” However the firm mentioned in an announcement it might not pay Mr. Lemon to create content material for the location.

“The Don Lemon Show 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,” the corporate mentioned in a statement posted on X. “However, like any enterprise, we reserve the right to make decisions about our business partnerships, and after careful consideration, X decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.”

In an announcement, a spokeswoman for Mr. Lemon mentioned that he would proceed to hunt cost from X. “Don has a deal with X and expects to be paid for it,” she mentioned. “If we have to go to court, we will.”

X’s current video offers — together with the one with Mr. Lemon — had been spearheaded by X’s chief govt, Linda Yaccarino, a former NBC Common govt who has leaned on her tv expertise to grow X’s content portfolio. The tumult highlighted the challenges going through Ms. Yaccarino as she tries to woo advertisers and content material creators to the platform below the shadow of Mr. Musk’s impulsive management.

Ryan Mac contributed reporting.