The show’s host, Don Lemon, said that Elon Musk suddenly canceled his partnership with X because the billionaire was «angry» at him over a recent «tense» interview.
Although the full interview will air on Monday, March 18, the few snippets shared by the participants in the conversation were less controversial than expected.
The former CNN anchor said on Wednesday that Musk backed out of the partnership hours after he conducted the interview, which was to air on March 18 as the first episode of The Don Lemon Show.
There were no interview restrictions that he wouldn’t agree to, and my questions were respectful and broad, covering everything from SpaceX to the presidential election. We had a good conversation. Obviously, he (Musk) felt differently.
— Lemon said.
X and Musk said that Lemon was still free to host his show on X without the support of a formal partnership. Semafor, citing unnamed sources, reported that Lemon did not yet have a signed contract with X, which could mean that he would have a hard time getting paid for the failed deal.
Lemon shared a few snippets of an interview with Erin Burnett on CNN’s OutFront program, transmits Business Insider.
In the first clip, Lemon asks Musk if he thinks X is responsible for moderating content on the platform, specifically mentioning the great replacement conspiracy theory often promoted by racists. He asked if moderation would help Musk avoid having to answer questions from journalists.
I don’t have to answer questions from journalists. Don, the only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on Platform X and you asked for it. Otherwise, I would not be doing this interview.
— Musk said.
Later, Lemon asked Musk about his alleged ketamine use:
The reason I mentioned the ketamine prescription on the X platform was because I thought maybe it could help other people.
In an August post on X, Musk said that he has a prescription for ketamine for when his «brain chemistry sometimes goes super-negative».
In the third segment of the interview, Lemon asks Musk about reports that he met with former President Donald Trump in Florida last week.
I was at a friend’s breakfast and Donald Trump walked in, that’s all.
Musk also said that Trump did not ask him for money and that he has no plans to support Trump or donate to his campaign.
Although the topics discussed in the videos were somewhat controversial, the exchange did not appear to be particularly tense. These were also not topics for which Musk had not faced criticism before. However, the interview was not aired in its entirety, so it is possible that there were more heated moments than we have seen so far.