Did Don Lemon Really Want A Tesla Cybertruck? Elon Musk Blames Their Failed Partnership On Lemon’s “Impressively Insane Demands”

Back in January, the relationship between Elon Musk and former CNN journalist Don Lemon appeared to be one of mutual respect, with Musk greenlighting The Don Lemon Show, a news program that would air on Musk’s social media platform, X. However, in March, immediately after taping the show’s first episode in which Lemon interviewed Musk, Lemon’s contract was abruptly terminated.

Immediately after the interview, the two engaged in name-calling; Lemon stated that Musk was “averse to facts,” adding, “freedom of speech, I guess, does not mean the same thing to him as it does to me,” while Musk described Lemon as “a pompous fool who spouts nonsense.”

And now, the relationship between Lemon and Musk is growing more contentious by the day. Yesterday, Lemon filed a lawsuit against Musk and X for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, misappropriation of Lemon’s name and likeness, and breach of express contract.

Now, Musk has fired back at Lemon, claiming that “[Lemon] made a series of impressively insane demands. We declined. Therefore, there was no deal.” Making legal matters more complicated is the fact that their contract was reportedly a handshake deal with no signed contract.

Musk didn’t elaborate on Lemon’s actual demands, but in March, rumors swirled that Lemon had made several requests as a part of his negotiations with X, including a free Tesla Cybertruck, equity stake in X, as well as the power to approve any news-related policies the social media platform may be considering.The rumors also suggested that Lemon also demanded an additional $8 million salary on top of the $5 million payment he received up front.

While those are certainly hefty demands, Lemon and his reps denied them all. Lemon’s agent Jay Sures stated at the time, “This is absolute, complete utter nonsense without an iota of truth to it.”