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Former CNN star Don Lemon has filed a lawsuit against multi-billionaire Elon Musk and his social media company X (formerly Twitter), for alleged breach of contract and unfair practices.
The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco, claimed that Musk and X terminated a partnership with Lemon without just cause and failed to compensate him despite using his name to attract advertisers to the platform.
Lemon’s legal team, Shegerian & Associates, has accused X of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and misappropriation of his name and likeness.
According to the filing, X had agreed to pay Lemon $1.5 million and provide a share of advertising revenue generated from his content.
The lawsuit alleged that Musk and X made “false promises and representations” to convince Lemon to enter the deal, which fell apart after the recording of the first episode of “The Don Lemon Show” in March.
The episode featured an interview with Musk and was intended to boost X’s appeal to advertisers.
Musk described Lemon’s approach as merely “CNN, but on social media,” suggesting that such a concept was unviable.
Musk’s outreach aimed to draw advertisers back to X, but the platform has faced setbacks, including the withdrawal of Paris Hilton’s advertising campaign in November, further complicating its efforts to stabilise.
