Elon Musk’s Don Lemon Implosion
It’s a big news week for Elon, Inc., with the future of X as a video platform now in doubt thanks to its owner.
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In January, former CNN anchor Don Lemon announced he was developing a new show. Lemon, who had said he was fired by CNN in the wake of a number of controversial interviews with Republican politicians, said he’d found a new patron who promised not to rein him in: Elon Musk. The new Don Lemon Show would air on X, Musk’s social media network. Lemon described the app formerly known as Twitter as “the biggest space for free speech in the world.” He promised “a place for honest debate and discussion without the hall monitors.”
The partnership, which X Chief Executive Officer Linda Yaccarino, had also enthusiastically touted, didn’t survive the first episode, which featured an extremely awkward interview with Lemon’s would-be patron. During the interview, Musk expanded on his far-right views on immigration, defended his use of the drug ketamine and became irritated when pressed about advertisers who’ve stopped advertising on X. By the time the interview was over, it was clear that any enthusiasm Musk might have felt for Lemon was gone. Lemon announced that the partnership was dead; Musk responded with taunts, calling Lemon a profanity on X.
To break down the breakdown of what had been one of Musk’s highest-profile content deals, and to discuss what it means for his struggling social network, Elon, Inc. spoke with Bloomberg social media reporter Kurt Wagner and Musk correspondent Dana Hull. Among the highlights from this week’s episode: