Elon Musk Cancels X Deal With Don Lemon Over Interview Questions; Clips Of Awkward Q&A Revealed

Don Lemon claims Elon Musk canceled his partnership with X after the former CNN anchor interviewed the billionaire for his new talk show on the platform.

Lemon made the announcement via a statement and video shared on X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday.

"He informed me of his decision hours after an interview I conducted with him on Friday," Lemon wrote in the statement, before adding that his interview with Musk will still air as the debut episode of "The Don Lemon Show" on Monday.

In his video, the 58-year-old journalist claimed, "Elon Musk is mad at me... This does not change anything about the show except for my relationship with Elon and X."

In a statement, X said, "'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. 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."

Lemon responded to the statement, writing: "Clean up on aisle X."

Musk also addressed the deal termination, claiming that the journalist's approach during their interview "was basically just 'CNN, but on social media,' which doesn't work."

The billionaire also claimed that it "lacked authenticity," before saying that Lemon was still "welcome" to build viewership on X.

Musk also took to X Wednesday to post, "Free speech is the bedrock of democracy," to which Lemon responded, "You canceled my contract after our interview. I don't think you believe in free speech."

Lemon said in his statement that he agreed to the partnership because he had been told that X was a "digital town square" with freedom of speech and no censorship.

He also said that Musk agreed to have "no restrictions" when it came to topics during their interview and that his questions to the tech mogul were "respectful."

During an exclusive conversation with CNN's Erin Burnett Tuesday, Lemon said he doesn't know why Musk had a change of heart and allegedly texted him, "Contract is canceled," just hours after their 90-minute interview.

Lemon acknowledged that his interview with Musk had been "tense at moments" but said he ultimately "felt really good" about their chat.

"I said to him, 'I think it's good that people see folks like you and I who have different world views come together and talk and as he says, have free speech,'" Lemon told Burnett of the interview with Musk, referring to the Tesla CEO repeatedly saying in interviews and events that he bought Twitter because he wanted free speech on the platform.

With the cancellation of the deal, however, Lemon said this suggested the billionaire's views on free speech may not extend to "questions about him from people like me."

Lemon shared some clips with CNN from his sit-down with Musk, and they showed the journalist asking the SpaceX CEO about some of his controversial tweets, his reported use of ketamine, and the alleged increase in hate speech on X.

In one clip, Lemon asked Musk about moderating hate speech on X and answering questions from reporters about the billionaire's tweets that some have claimed align with the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory.

This notion claims there is "an intentional effort, led by Jews, to promote ... efforts that would lead to the 'extinction of whites,'" according to the American Jewish Committee.

In response, Musk told Lemon, "I don't have to answer questions from reporters. Don, the only reason I'm in this interview is because you're on the X platform, and you asked for it. Otherwise, I would not do this interview."

When Lemon went on to ask Musk if he doesn't think he would get in trouble or get criticized, the tech mogul replied, "I get criticized constantly, I couldn't care less."

During his interview with Burnett, Lemon made it clear that despite the partnership, Musk was not his boss and had no editorial control over his show.

Describing X as a "distribution partner," Lemon said the social media company promised to give him and his new show "assistance and support" but ultimately did not.

As part of the deal, Lemon said he agreed to do exclusive content for X and to release episodes exclusively on the site for 24 hours before dropping them on other streaming platforms.

The site also promised to provide marketing and other forms of support for his show, according to the journalist.

Despite the cancellation of the contract, a rep for Lemon said in a statement to Variety: "Don has a deal with X and he expects to be paid for it, If we have to go to court, we will."

According to Lemon, Musk's full interview on "The Don Lemon Show" will be released on X, YouTube, and "wherever you listen to podcasts" on Monday.