Don Lemon sues Elon Musk and X for cancelling his talk show

Don Lemon has sued Elon Musk and X for abruptly cancelling his deal with the social media platform, alleging fraud, negligent misrepresentation, misuse of his name and image, and breach of express contract, reports Variety. Lemon's show was taken off the air in March this year after a controversial interview with Musk - who, according to the complaint, promised Lemon that he would have full control over the show's content.

The complaint, filed on August 1 in California's Superior Court for San Francisco County, claims that after advertisers fled Twitter following Musk's acquisition, Musk and other X executives began wooing Lemon, aiming to publicise a "partnership between X and Lemon" that would "link the X brand to Lemon's good name, image, identity, and reputation" in order to "restore" the social platform in the eyes of advertisers.

According to the complaint, Lemon struck an exclusive partnership deal with X in January 2024 after months of negotiations, after Musk approached Lemon in June 2023 to ask him to join the platform. The complaint claims that Lemon "expressed his doubts due to the ongoing controversies surrounding the X platform." In response, Musk allegedly told Lemon that he would have full control over the work he produced — even if Musk or others at X didn't like it — and that there was "no need for a formal written agreement or 'filling out paperwork.'" That December, Lemon met with X executives — including CEO Linda Yaccarino and Brett Weitz, who was then X's head of content, talent, and brand sales — over dinner. According to the complaint, Lemon once again expressed his hesitation to partner with the platform. A few weeks after the meeting, Weitz texted Lemon, "You're going to get a lot of money this year," the complaint claims. As part of the deal, Lemon agreed to produce 10 shortform videos per month and one longform video per week and publish that content exclusively on X for a 24-hour period before it could be posted on other platforms. The complaint alleges that the deal guaranteed Lemon $1.5 million, of which the first $200,000 was paid upfront. The remaining funds were to be paid in quarterly installments, and Lemon would also receive additional funds depending on how many followers he gained and the amount of programmatic advertising revenue his content generated. The complaint alleges that as a result of these financial promises, Lemon "spent hundreds of thousands" by creating his own media company, collaborating with his agents, striking a production deal with a content studio and production company, and purchasing equipment. The X deal fell apart after Lemon interviewed Musk in March. During the "tense" interview, Lemon questioned Musk about his politics, drug use, and the increase in hate speech on X since he took over the platform. Lemon asked Musk to comment on his opinions about illegal immigration, the white supremacist "great replacement" conspiracy theory, and opposition to diversity, equality, and inclusion policies.

"I don't have to answer reporters' questions," Musk told Lemon during the interview. "Don, I'm only doing this interview because you're on the X platform and you asked for it. Otherwise, we're not going to do this interview."

After Lemon learned the deal was canceled, Musk sent Lemon's agent a message that read, "The contract is canceled."

Lemon is seeking economic, non-economic, and punitive damages.

X did not immediately respond to The Verge's request for comment.