Musk abruptly cancels 'The Don Lemon Present' on X after he sits for this system's first interview

Elon Musk abruptly canceled “The Don Lemon Present” on his social media community X after the previous CNN anchor recorded an interview with the billionaire for its as-yet unaired first episode.

Musk owns X, previously often known as Twitter, and continuously proclaims himself a “free speech absolutist.” In a submit on X, the San Francisco-based firm stated solely that after cautious consideration, it “determined to not enter right into a industrial partnership with the present.” It added that Lemon’s present “is welcome to publish its content material on X, with out censorship, as we imagine in offering a platform for creators to scale their work and join with new communities.”

In a video posted to X, Lemon declared that “ Elon Musk is mad at me ″ and stated he will probably be airing his interview with the Tesla CEO on YouTube and through podcast on Monday.

Lemon didn’t go into specifics concerning the supply of Musk’s alleged unhappiness, however wrote, “All through our dialog, I stored reiterating to him that though it was tense at occasions, I assumed it was good for individuals to see and listen to our trade and that they’d be taught from our dialog.”

“However apparently free speech absolutism doesn’t apply on the subject of questions on him from individuals like me,” he added.

In a later CNN dialogue with Lemon on Monday, anchor Erin Burnett performed clips of his Musk interview wherein the Tesla and SpaceX CEO grew testy when requested about content material moderation and the unfold of hate speech on the X platform.

Within the clip, Lemon requested Musk if he believed that he and his social platform held any duty to reasonable hate speech on X. He singled out the unfold of the “ nice substitute principle,” a racist perception that, in its most excessive kind, falsely contends that Jews are behind a plot to decrease the affect of white individuals within the U.S.

Musk replied sharply that he doesn’t should reply questions from reporters. “The one purpose I’m on this interview is since you’re on the X platform and also you requested for it,” he stated. “In any other case I’d not be doing this interview.” When Lemon adopted up with a query concerning the criticism Musk has confronted over the difficulty of hate speech, the CEO replied, “I’m criticized consistently. I might care much less.”

X introduced in January a “new content material partnership” with Lemon for the present, saying it could submit 30 minute episodes thrice per week on topics together with politics, tradition, sports activities and leisure. That deal was a part of the struggling platform’s efforts to bolster its content material choices and entice advertisers. X additionally introduced exhibits hosted by former member of Congress Tulsi Gabbard and sports activities radio host Jim Rome.

Lemon was fired by CNN final yr after a 17-year run with the community. His ouster got here slightly over two months after he apologized for on-air feedback about then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley not being in “her prime” that he made throughout his quick run as a morning present host.