Elon: 1 / Don: 0 — former CNN host embarrassed by Musk in interview
Former CNN host Don Lemon was given a chance to come back to CNN and interview Elon Musk — but the interview was not as great of a success as he’d have hoped, and he’s not happy about it.
“Don Lemon doing a little whining right now,” Pat Gray scoffs.
In the interview, Lemon asked Elon whether he and X had “some responsibility to moderate hate speech on the platform[.] That you wouldn’t have to answer these questions from reporters about the great replacement theory as it relates to Jewish people?”
“I don’t have to answer questions from reporters. Don, the only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it. Otherwise, I would not do this interview,” Elon responded.
"Do you think that you wouldn't get in trouble or you wouldn't be criticized for these things?" Don asked.
"I'm criticized constantly. I couldn't care less," Musk retorted in his typical detached manner.
Then, just hours after the interview, Elon canceled the partnership between Lemon and X.
Lemon then went back on CNN to host Erin Burnett to complain about Elon, saying his rhetoric surrounding the “great replacement theory and migrant invasion” is what “radicalized shooters use in their manifesto.”
“I wanted to know if he felt any responsibility as someone who has one of the largest social media and information platforms in the world,” Lemon continued, adding, “it doesn’t seem that he feels that he has any responsibility with that because he seemed really averse to facts."
After Lemon’s CNN appearance, Elon fired back that “CNN is dying,” and X isn’t in the market for that kind of reporting.
“They want somebody to control your speech,” Keith Malinak says.
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Is Don Lemon's RIDICULOUS list of demands (which included a free Tesla Cybertruck) the real reason Musk cut ties with him?
Don Lemon’s show was dumped by Elon Musk before it even got a chance to air, but it’s not just because Lemon asked Elon unsavory questions about needed censorship on X in their recent interview.
The ex-CNN anchor also sent over a wildly greedy list of demands during contract talks to host a show on the social media platform X.
Musk was not impressed.
The list allegedly included a free Tesla Cybertruck, a $5 million upfront payment on top of an $8 million salary, and a private jet trip to Las Vegas with his boyfriend in exchange for hosting his show exclusively on X.
Lemon also apparently asked for equity stake in the multibillion-dollar company and the right to approve any changes in X policy as it relates to news content.
After canceling his partnership with Lemon, Musk wrote in a statement on X that the “Don Lemon show is welcome to publish its content on X without censorship.”
“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,” Musk continued.
Pat Gray is shocked Musk considered a partnership with Lemon in the first place, considering the astronomical list of demands.
“Why would you ever agree to any of that?” Gray asks.
“As a creator on there, Don, if you believe in your product, you will make money off of people flocking to watch it,” Keith Malinak says, adding, “So, we’ll see how he does over there.”
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