Former CNN host Don Lemon has filed a lawsuit against Twitter owner Elon Musk for canceling a show he was due to host. The suit claims that Musk terminated the contract with Lemon and subsequently refused to pay him for using his name to promote the program. Shegerian & Associates, the attorneys representing Mr. Lemon, posted a message on Facebook stating that Musk was guilty of “fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and misappropriation of name and likeness.”
Documents filed with the California Superior Court in San Francisco state that Twitter had promised to pay Lemon $1.5 million as well as a share of advertising revenue. The first episode of “The Don Lemon Show” was recorded in March and featured a sit-down discussion between Lemon and Musk.
In a Twitter post after the interview, Mr. Musk said Lemon’s first show was “CNN on social media,” adding that this “doesn’t work” and that CNN is dying. The former CNN host later claimed that Musk ended the show merely by texting him, “contract terminated.”
Mr. Lemon was considered one of CNN’s shining stars until he was abruptly fired in April. His sacking came following remarks he made about then-Republican Presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who had warned that Donald Trump was too old to run for President. Lemon said that Nikki Haley should be careful when discussing age because she was also past her prime as a woman in her 50s. The comments prompted outrage and accusations of sexism, leading to Lemon’s departure within weeks.
At the time, Lemon posted a message to Twitter saying he had been fired without notice after 17 years with the network, adding that he was “stunned” that nobody had spoken to him about it. “I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly,” he wrote.
Elon Musk has responded to the lawsuit, saying there was no deal in place because Mr. Lemon had made a “series of impressively insane demands.” He did not specify these demands, however, or offer any further detail about the breakdown of the working relationship.
Mr. Lemon is seeking an unspecified amount in financial compensation.
