Don Lemon sues Elon Musk over axed X partnership
Momodu Mansaray/WireImage // Steve Granitz/Getty Images
- Don Lemon is suing Elon Musk and X over a canceled partnership deal.
- Lemon accused Musk of fraud, misrepresentation, and breach of contract.
- The lawsuit says X used Lemon for advertising, then canceled the deal without payment.
Don Lemon is suing Elon Musk over an X deal that turned sour in March.
Lemon filed the lawsuit Thursday in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco against Musk and his company X, formerly known as Twitter.
Lemon accuses Musk and X of committing fraud, negligent misrepresentation, misappropriation of Lemon's name and likeness, breach of express contract, and unjust enrichment when it abruptly canceled a planned partnership with Lemon in March.
"X executives used Don to prop up their advertising sales pitch, then canceled their partnership and dragged Don's name through the mud," Lemon's attorney, Carney Shegerian, said in a statement.
Talks of Lemon striking an exclusive content deal with X began in 2023 after he parted ways with CNN. Musk publicly recruited Lemon to X in a post, saying the partnership was "worth a try."
In his complaint, Lemon said the Musk and X agreed to a guaranteed payment of $1.5 million for a one-year partnership with the option to renew the deal twice. Lemon would also be paid a percentage of the ad revenue from his content and earn money based on the number of followers he gained, the lawsuit says.
When Lemon first announced "The Don Lemon Show" wouldn't be premiering on X, he said a tense interview with Musk might have influenced the deal's termination.
Lemon accuses X and Musk of using him to rehabilitate their reputations and "reneged on their express agreement" once they'd done so without paying him.
When Business Insider requested a comment from X, the company replied, "Busy now, please check back later." Musk's attorney didn't immediately respond to the request.
The official X Business account posted in March that "after careful consideration, X decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show."