Elon Musk issued a statement after Don Lemon claimed that their partnership for his new digital show was canceled following a “tense” interview between the two about things like elections and SpaceX.
In a post on X, the business account for the social media platform wrote, “X is a platform that champions free speech, and we’re proud to provide an open environment for diverse voices and perspectives.”
“‘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 statement added. “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 a follow-up post, Musk himself made it clear that he found Lemon’s proposed new show was going to be basically just like his old show on “CNN, but on social media,” which he said “doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying.”
“And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity,” he added. “All this said, Lemon/Zucker are of course welcome to build their viewership on this platform along with everyone else.”
It came after the fired CNN host posted a video on the platform and said that throughout his interview on Friday with Musk for his new show, he “kept reiterating to him — although it was tense at times — I thought it was good for people to see and hear our exchange. But, apparently, free-speech absolutism doesn’t apply when it comes to questions about him from people like me.”
“This does not change anything about the show, except for my relationship with Elon and X,” he added. “There’s a whole lot that went down, and I’m going to tell you about it in the coming days.”
In an earlier post, Lemon issued a statement about his show on X being canceled after Musk was the subject of an interview on the first episode of the disgraced host’s new show.
“We had a good conversation,” Lemon wrote. “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.”
Lemon also announced that the interview will be aired on Monday, March 18 when his new digital show is posted on YouTube, X, and any other place podcasts can be found.
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