Don Lemon said his interview with Elon Musk was « tense at moments » and said the X owner’s claims about defending free speech are « just talking points. »
A serene Don Lemon on Wednesday night returned to CNN — the network he was ousted from last year — to discuss Elon Musk abruptly firing him from his subsequent gig on X just hours after the two sat down for an interview.
“What set Musk off?” “Outfront” host Erin Burnett asked of the billionaire’s unexpected canceling of the platform’s “Don Lemon Show.”
“That’s a good question for Elon Musk. Quite frankly, I don’t know,” said Lemon, who was wearing thick, black-rimmed glasses and a black sweater with a white button-down.
Burnett flashed a statement from X, saying that it reserved the right to make decisions about its partnerships, before also playing clips of Musk talking about the importance of free speech on his social media platform.
Lemon, 58, who said his interview with Musk, 52, was “tense at moments” replied that the CEO’s comments about free speech must be “just talking points.”
The former CNN anchor expressed surprise that Musk canceled his deal with him 24 hours after the interview.
“What’s interesting to me is … I never raised my voice. I told him, ‘I think this is important for people to hear,’” Lemon said. “At the end, I could tell he was upset. He was uncomfortable.”
Despite Lemon’s calm disposition, he did tell Burnett that a public square like X “should not be privately owned” and that freedom of speech “doesn’t mean as much” to Musk as it “does to him.”
He told Burnett that he asked Musk about whether he has a responsibility to police hate speech on X, to which the mogul shot back that he doesn’t have any responsibility to do that or answer questions.
“I don’t have to answer questions from reporters. Don, the only reason I’ve done this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it, otherwise, I would not do this interview.”
The snippy exchange ended with Lemon asking if he’d be criticized for not answering questions.
“I get criticized constantly, and I could care less,” Musk said
Other topics of conversation included DEI policies that Musk has slammed on his platform. CNN did not play any clips showing that exchange.
Lemon said he asked the tech mogul if X has a responsibility to better moderate harmful theories about race.
Lemon told Burnett that the CEO said the platform doesn’t “amplify” any racist ideology.
“There’s no accountability,” he added.
Lemon corrected Burnett when she referred to Musk as his “boss.”
“First of all, he’s not my boss. They were a distribution partner, they never had editorial control.”
Another tense exchange came when Lemon asked about Musk’s alleged drug use, specifically pointing to his ketamine use.
