The first episode of The Don Lemon Show premiered on Monday morning, showcasing a fiery interview with Elon Musk. The interview ultimately killed Don Lemon’s deal with X, in which the former CNN host promised to create exclusive content for the platform.
Lemon did not shy away from hot-button issues with Musk. The two broached topics including X’s content moderation, Musk’s opinions on DEI and woke politics, and even the billionaire’s alleged drug abuse. Lemon pushed back against many of Musk’s typical narratives he spreads on X, which made for a combative conversation that clearly made the Tesla CEO uncomfortable.
At one point in the interview, Musk even said, “Don… choose your questions carefully, you’ve got five minutes left.” Musk then darted away to a “room full of people” waiting for him.
In the hours after this conversation took place, Musk notified Lemon’s representation that his “contract is canceled.” The contract was never signed to begin with, according to Semafor, even though X and Lemon had both promoted the deal extensively.
Lemon’s unsigned contract with X was leaked to The New York Post, which alleges the former CNN anchor requested a $5 million advance on top of an $8 million salary, equity in X, and a Tesla Cybertruck. Notably, the contract did not guarantee Lemon would provide exclusive episodes on X, but merely exclusive clips around interviews that would be posted elsewhere.
Here are the most heated moments from the interview that killed Don Lemon’s deal with X. Each of the following slides are linked to the moment from the interview being discussed.