Don Lemon announced Wednesday that his X show was canceled by Elon Musk, just hours after their interview.
“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,” Lemon wrote in a statement Wednesday morning. “He informed me of his decision hours after an interview I conducted with him on Friday.”
The interview, which Lemon teased Tuesday would spotlight Musk “like you’ve never seen him before,” will remain the premiere episode of “The Don Lemon Show,” according to the statement. It will premiere Monday, March 18, on YouTube, podcast platforms and X.
Lemon noted there were “no restrictions” put on their interview — which covered everything from SpaceX to the presidential election — and added he thought the pair had a “good conversation.”
“Clearly he felt differently,” Lemon said of Musk. “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 concluded his statement by noting the X cancellation does not translate to the demise of “The Don Lemon Show,” guaranteeing the interview with Musk is “just the first of many episodes.”
“While Elon goes back on his word, I will be doubling down on my commitment to free speech and I cannot wait to get started,” Lemon wrote.
The former CNN anchor also posted a video to X detailing the cancellation, where he assured viewers the cancellation “does not change anything about the show, except for [his] relationship with Elon and X,” adding that Musk is “mad at [him.]” In addition to the episode debuting on YouTube and major podcast platforms, Lemon said he will be posting the interview to X himself.
Later on Wednesday, Musk defended himself in a Twitter comment, writing, “His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media,’ which 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. All this said, Lemon/Zucker are of course welcome to build their viewership on this platform along with everyone else.”
The news comes just over two months after Lemon and X announced their video content deal in early January, which was unveiled alongside partnerships with former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and sports talk show host Jim Rome.
At the time, Lemon touted that his new show would be “available to everyone, easily, whenever and wherever you want it, streaming on the platforms where the conversations are happening. And you’ll find it first on X, the biggest space for free speech in the world.”
After serving as an anchor for 17 years at CNN, Lemon was fired from the network in April 2023, just six months into his new gig as a host of “CNN This Morning.” The former host found himself surrounded in controversy after commenting that Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley “is not in her prime,” adding that a woman is “said to be in her prime in her 20s, 30s and maybe 40s.”
