Don Lemon Made Outrageous Demands to Host Show on X Before Elon Musk Ended Talks: Report
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon reportedly had a list of demands that would make a diva jealous as he tried to negotiate with Elon Musk to host a show on X, but Musk — the social media site’s billionaire owner — ended the…
Former 📺CNN anchor 📺Don Lemon reportedly had a list of demands that would make a diva jealous as he tried to negotiate with 👤Elon Musk to host a show on X, but Musk — the social media site’s billionaire owner — ended the contract talks after a recent interview with Lemon.
Lemon insisted on a Tesla Cybertruck, $5 million up front, a salary of $8 million, an equity stake in X, and approval rights over X policy changes impacting news content, according to the New York Post.
Lemon also wanted X to toss in a private plane trip to Las Vegas, a suite for his fiancé and himself, and an X-paid day of drinking and massages, the Post wrote, citing an unidentified source with knowledge of the situation.
Lemon also wanted executive assistants and a marketing budget of $10 million to $15 million, the Post wrote, per sources.
The contract talks, according to the Post, were still in the fluid stage when Musk decided this week not to finish them.
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Don Lemon Made Outrageous Demands to Host Show on X Before Elon Musk Ended Talks: Report - IJR
Jay Sures, vice chairman at United Talent Agency, where Lemon has agents, said the Post report was “absolute, complete utter nonsense without an iota of truth to it.”
A representative of Lemon also said the demands were not made.
“There is nothing in your list of demands that you claim Don made of X that is true. Literally nothing,” said the representative, whom the Post did not name.
Musk met Lemon for an interview recently and called him “dull” and “underwhelming,” according to the Post.
A partnership between Lemon and X was announced in January, but a spokesperson for the social media company told the Post that it “did not have a final or signed agreement with 📺Don Lemon or ‘The 📺Don Lemon Show’” before the interview with Musk, a talk that had been targeted as the first episode of the show.
There was more contention than chemistry between Lemon and Musk during the interview.
“I don’t have to answer questions from reporters, Don,” Musk said. “The only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it.
Lemon went to 📺CNN, which fired him last year, to claim that Musk “doesn’t understand that sort of the rhetoric he talks about — the Great Replacement Theory and migrant invasion — that’s what radicalized shooters used in their manifestos,” according to the Daily Beast.
In a statement Wednesday, X reiterated that the “📺Don Lemon Show is welcome to publish its content on X, without censorship, as we believe in providing a platform for creators to scale their work and connect with new communities.
“However, like any enterprise, we reserve the right to make decisions about our business partnerships, and after careful consideration, X decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.
Lemon told “The View” that Musk could not handle his questions, according to Fox News.
“I think it was just uncomfortable for him to sit in front of someone and actually have to answer questions, to be held accountable, to really, you know – instead of being in a friendly — usually for the most part his interviews are with a friendly crowd,” Lemon said.
