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Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has sued Elon Musk and X after the social media platform abruptly cancelled his content deal following a spat earlier this year.
In a lawsuit filed in a San Francisco court on Thursday, Lemon said that in early January he was offered a one-year “exclusive partnership” from X executives, whereby he would receive $1.5mn for a series of exclusive video content, as well as 60 per cent of advertising revenue gathered from that content and additional cash incentives.
Lemon alleges he was wooed by Linda Yaccarino, X’s chief executive, together with Musk. He said he was told he must announce the partnership formally and attend the CES tech conference to tout the deal, otherwise it would be withdrawn.
Lemon did this, all while being told by Musk there “would be no need for a formal written agreement or to ‘fill out paperwork’,” according to the lawsuit, which lists claims for fraud, breach of contract and misappropriation of Lemon’s name and likeness.
However, Musk cancelled the deal shortly after Lemon recorded the first episode of the show — a contentious interview with Musk himself.
During the interview, which was later aired on YouTube and X, Lemon asked Musk personal questions including whether he ever abused the drug ketamine, which Musk denied.
Musk at the time said he was cancelling the show because it “lacked authenticity” and was “CNN, but on social media”. Musk and X did not respond to requests for comment.
Musk and Yaccarino have touted partnerships and exclusive content deals as X’s advertising revenue has dwindled following concerns over Musk’s hands-off approach to content moderation on the platform and sometimes erratic management style.
Musk has also stirred controversy by seeking to renegotiate or cancel contracts, and refusing to pay bills, in a massive cost-cutting drive since he bought the platform for $44bn in 2022.
X had faced a lawsuit from its San Francisco landlord for not paying rent, which was later dismissed, while some former staffers and executives have alleged the company has not paid out their full severance packages during lay-offs.
“This case is straightforward. X executives used Don to prop up their advertising sales pitch, then cancelled their partnership and dragged Don’s name through the mud,” Lemon’s attorney Carney Shegerian said in a statement.
“You don’t have to be a genius to see the fraud, negligence, and reputational damage here. Don is an accomplished and hard-hitting journalist who’s committed to defending his good name and holding X’s executives accountable.”
Lemon was fired from CNN in April 2023.
