Don Lemon and Elon Musk's working relationship certainly soured quickly after their interview for their media partnership on Twitter went less than stellar. After the former's show on the social media platform was swiftly canceled after just this one episode, it seems like he wants to seek even more retribution for this breakdown. Moreover, the journalist reportedly filed a lawsuit against the tech tycoon on Thursday (August 1), according to supposed court documents reportedly obtained by TMZ. Specifically, Lemon claims that Musk refused to honor his promise to pay him for this partnership after they fell out following their interview.
Furthermore, Don Lemon specifically claims that Elon Musk verbally promised to pay him $1.5 million a year for making content for Twitter, given that he needed a boost in advertisers after a dip in revenue. He also alleges that Musk promised him a share of the advertising revenue generated by the posts, as well as other monetary incentives corresponding to his growth and popularity on the social media platform. As such, Don believes that the Tesla magnate is breaking the law by walking back on this arrangement, although he admitted that there isn't a written contract in place concerning these terms.
Don Lemon Sues Elon Musk
Still, Don Lemon maintains that Elon Musk gave him his confident assurance about this payment structure and other aspects via a phone call. In fact, he also claimed that Musk promised to continue to support him financially even if he didn't like the content that he brought to the table. Don's first project with Twitter was the Elon interview, and his responses to drug use and politics questions made the writing on the wall clear. But he claims that he had already been pressured to announce this partnership at the CES Vegas tech conference and risked losing it if he didn't go to the conference along with Twitter's CEO Linda Yaccarino.
"X's executives used Don to prop up their advertising sales pitch, then canceled their partnership and dragged Don’s name through the mud," Don Lemon's lawyer Carney Shegerian remarked concerning the lawsuit alleging fraud, negligent misrepresentation, name and likeness misappropriation, breach of contract, and other accusations for which he seeks unspecified damages. "His approach was basically just 'CNN, but on social media,' which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying," Elon Musk had written of Lemon. "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."
