On Wednesday, Don Lemon dropped by CNN to drop receipts and dish more details about his cancelled contract with X/Twitter owner Elon Musk and his new show, “The Don Lemon Show.”
As previously reported by The Root, Lemon and Musk agreed to a deal to host Lemon’s show on the social media platform. But after a “tense” interview between the two of them that was set to air as the show’s debut episode on March 18—the Tesla founder terminated the contract. As a result, Lemon subsequently put out a statement and video message explaining what happened, that the episode would still be shown in totality on YouTube and podcasts platforms, and now appeared on his old stomping grounds—a.k.a. CNN to shed more light on the ordeal.
In one clip provided to CNN’s Erin Burnett, Musk is asked if he and the platform had a responsibility to moderate the hate speech that gets spewed on the platform or if he (Musk) felt like he didn’t have to answer questions from reporters over his own online rhetoric.
“I don’t have to answer those questions. I don’t have to answer questions from reporters. Don, the only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it. Otherwise I would not do this interview,” Musk responded.
Elsewhere in the interview, Lemon presses Musk about his use of prescription ketamine (Musk has openly discussed his use of the drug as help for his depression), his association with Donald Trump and whether he’s leaning towards supporting him in this year’s election or whether he’s going to donate towards his campaign.
Reflecting on the turn of events, Lemon told Burnett: “[Musk] supposedly says this is a public square for all. Maybe we’re learning that a public square should not be privately owned by someone who doesn’t think that there should be any moderation on that platform.”
“Freedom of speech does not mean, I guess, the same thing to him as it does to me,” Lemon concluded.
X has put out a statement in the aftermath of Lemon and Musk’s kerfuffle saying: “X is a platform that champions free speech, and we’re proud to provide an open environment for diverse voices and perspectives. 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.”