Don Lemon announced on Wednesday that his show on X (formerly Twitter) has been canceled by Elon Musk. Lemon, a former CNN anchor, says Musk cancelled the show hours after he interviewed the multibillionaire for the first episode of the show. Despite the canceled partnership with X, The Don Lemon Show will live on.
“Elon Musk has canceled the partnership I had with X, which they announced as part of their public commitment to amplifying more diverse voices on their platform,” Lemon wrote in a statement. “He informed me of his decision hours after an interview I conducted with him on Friday.”
The interview with Musk will remain the premiere episode of the show and will air on March 18 on YouTube and X. Lemon says the episode will be “just the first of many.”
In a statement published on X’s business account, the company said that while Lemon’s show is “welcome to publish its content on X,” the social network has decided to not enter into a commercial partnership with it.
“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,” the statement reads. “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.”
Lemon’s show was one of the first original shows slated to launch on X, as Musk and X CEO Linda Yaccarino have been seeking to turn the social media platform into more of a video-focused site. X announced two other original shows that were slated to air alongside Lemon’s: one hosted by former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and one by former Fox Sports host Jim Rome.
This story is developing…
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