X has canceled a high-profile partnership with former CNN host Don Lemon to launch a video talk show on the platform. Lemon said the company canceled its deal just hours after X’s billionaire owner Elon Musk was interviewed for the first episode of “The Don Lemon Show,” scheduled to air on the platform this Monday.
“Elon Musk is mad at me” Lemon he said In a video sent to X on Wednesday. “Apparently free speech absolutism doesn’t apply when it comes to people like me asking questions about it.”
Lemon’s announcement came a day after the company’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino announced that X was becoming a “video-first” platform. In January, it announced a partnership with Lemon as part of a larger strategy to stream more original content on the service. This includes amazing deals with former representative Tulsi Gabbard and sports radio commentator Jim Rome to air their own shows on the platform. Last year it was reported that X did similar contract With Tucker Carlson after being fired from his Fox News anchor position. X’s decision to cancel Lemon’s show raises questions about the company’s strategy.
“The Don Lemon Show is invited to publish its content on X without censorship because we believe it will provide a platform for creators to expand their work and connect with new communities,” X said. he said in the statement. “However, like any business, we reserve the right to make decisions about our business partnerships and after careful consideration have decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the X show.”
Lemon said he will now stream the first episode of “The Don Lemon Show” on X, YouTube and other podcast platforms, and that he is preparing for a legal fight if X refuses the multimillion-dollar payment. “Don has a contract with X and he expects to be paid for it,” Lemon’s spokeswoman said he said Diversity. “If we have to go to court, we will.” But two anonymous sources he claimed Semaphore Lemon may not have actually signed a contract with X. Musk has a history of withholding payments. A group of former Twitter executives, including the company’s former CEO Parag Agrawal to sue Musk and X million dollars in unpaid severance pay.
Lemon’s interview with Musk, recorded Friday, covered a wide range of topics, including the presidential election. reportedThe subject of the billionaire’s alleged use of ketamine is A The Wall Street Journal the story was published earlier this year. “Hard questions asked” Limon he said User X. In a written statement, Lemon said he had a “good conversation” with Musk, but made it clear that the billionaire didn’t think so.
Musk he wrote in response to a user asking X about the specific reasons for ending the partnership with Lemon, Lemon’s approach was “basically just ‘CNN but on social media’ doesn’t work, it proves the fact that CNN is dying.” “And instead of being a real Don Lemon,” Musk sniped, “he was really fair [former CNN President] Jeff Zucker was speaking through Don, there wasn’t that much originality.
Lemon was fired from CNN nearly a year ago after making on-air comments about former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley that many considered sexist and ageist. reports During his 15 years at CNN, he shows that he engaged in misogynistic behavior.
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