Elon Musk sued by ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon over canceled X deal

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon sued Elon Musk on Thursday, accusing him of making false promises to entice the journalist into a canceled deal to host a show on the billionaire’s social media platform.

The lawsuit alleges that Musk — who bought Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 and later renamed it X — used news of a partnership with Lemon to boost the media company’s profile, then reneged on the deal without compensating him.

Lemon had “incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses” in preparing for the show, the lawsuit alleges.

The deal to host “The Don Lemon Show” on X was scrapped in March, shortly after the taping of its premiere episode, a one-on-one interview with Musk.

“We had a good conversation. Clearly he felt differently,” Lemon said of Musk when he announced that the partnership had fallen apart.

Musk later said on X that Lemon’s approach “was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying.”

Thursday’s lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court alleges that Musk and his co-defendants “deliberately misrepresented what they intended to do.”

If they “accurately represented” that their plan was to use Lemon to “rehabilitate Defendants reputation and draw in advertisers to the X platform,” Lemon would never have agreed to it, the suit says.

Lemon accuses Musk and X of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, misappropriation of name and likeness, breach of contract, and restitution and unjust enrichment. He is seeking damages and other relief.

Lemon’s attorney Carney Shegerian in a statement Thursday said that X’s executives “used Don to prop up their advertising sales pitch, then canceled their partnership and dragged Don’s name through the mud.”

“You don’t have to be a genius to see the fraud, negligence, and reputational damage here,” Shegerian said. “Don’s a hard-hitting journalist who’s committed to defending his good name. We look forward to our day in court.”

Lemon was fired from CNN in April 2023, following a sexist on-air remark about then-presidential candidate Nikki Haley and a Variety report about his behavior behind the scenes during his 17 years at the network. Lemon’s spokesperson at the time said that report was “riddled with patently false anecdotes” and old gossip.

The 29-page lawsuit says Lemon, after leaving CNN, was a “top prospect” for Musk and X, who were looking for “reputable figures” to help them in their struggle to keep advertisers on the platform.

“A gay, Black man with an excellent reputation and a household name, ]Lemon] was the perfect candidate to partner with to aid their dying advertisement revenue,” the lawsuit alleged.

Lemon in mid-December met with X CEO Linda Yaccarino and Brett Weitz, another X executive, at a New York City restaurant, to discuss a potential exclusive partnership. They assured Lemon that he would have “full authority over his work,” and later…