Don Lemon’s tenure as a broadcaster on X turned out to be over before it ever really began.
The former CNN host said Elon Musk canceled his deal with the social media platform after a contentious interview that was meant to be the premiere episode of his new digital program.
On Thursday’s show, Megyn was joined by the hosts of Ruthless – Josh Holmes, Comfortably Smug, Michael Duncan, and John Ashbrook – to discuss the sit down and Lemon trying to play the victim.
Lemon Gets Canceled
After being fired by CNN last spring, Lemon announced in January that he had reached a deal with Musk to launch a show on X.
The Don Lemon Show was set to debut next week with the Tesla founder as its first guest, but the interview apparently did not go according to plan. “Don Lemon got fired again, already,” Megyn said. “He got fired before he really got hired. It’s very hard for Don to keep a job, and we know why.”
During the interview that was taped last Friday, Lemon asked Musk about his drug use, hate speech on X, and the upcoming election among other things. While Lemon admitted the sit-down was “tense at times,” he claimed his questions were respectful and they had “a good conversation.”
Musk felt differently because, according to The Wall Street Journal, he texted Lemon’s agent on Saturday to say the “contract is canceled.” He followed that up with a public statement on X on Wednesday, saying Lemon “lacked authenticity” because the interview “was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don.”
In Megyn’s view, Musk likely didn’t know what he was getting into with Lemon. “Elon Musk is a risk-taker, so I guess he thought this would be a fun risk,” she surmised. “He probably just thought he’s like a left-wing commentator. I doubt Elon spent his time watching CNN primetime because literally only two people did.”
A spokesperson for Lemon said that he “expects to be paid” for his deal with X and will go to court if necessary. But the WSJ reported there was actually no signed contract between the host and the platform.
Lemon Plays the Victim
As Megyn explained, this interview was a losing proposition from the jump. “I will give it to Bill O’Reilly, who… is saying, don’t interview your boss – that is the lesson that came out of this hot mess of an exchange,” she said. “It’s very hard for Don Lemon in that position to both be a good journalist and employee.”
The balance, she said, is tough to strike. “The man is paying your salary, so you do owe him a level of respect and discretion,” Megyn explained. “At the same time, you want to show us, in your first interview back, how hard hitting you are. Those two goals are not aligned.”
Musk made it clear that Lemon is still free to post the show X, and the former primetime anchor said he still intends to. In the meantime, clips of the interview have started to emerge after Lemon appeared on his former network, CNN, Wednesday night to complain about the situation.
He told host Erin Burnett that, “during the course of that interview, I never raised my voice” and just wanted Musk to grasp the importance of the sit down. “I told him, you know, I think this is important for people to hear, especially considering how the type of discourse that we’re having in the country right now, and he supposedly says this is a public square for all,” Lemon claimed. “Maybe we’re learning that the public square should not be privately owned by someone who doesn’t think that there should be any moderation on that platform.”
Lemon’s approach during and after the interview, Megyn said, showed he was not up for the task. “I will say, Don Lemon behaved like an a–hole who was not grateful to Elon Musk for resurrecting his career,” she explained. “Ask him about how amazing X is doing and how it’s thriving notwithstanding all the doomsday predictions and what ever happened to loser Threads over on Facebook.”
On CNN, Lemon also questioned Musk’s commitment to the First Amendment. “I could tell that he was upset… It was tense, and I said, ‘Listen, I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. As a matter of fact, I would go and have a beer and hash these things out,'” Lemon recalled. “You and I do not agree on much, but I will fight for your right to be able to say what you want to say. That’s what freedom of speech means to me… Freedom of speech does not mean, I guess, the same thing to him as it does to me.”
In Megyn’s view, Lemon has it all wrong. “First of all, he didn’t lose any freedom of speech whatsoever,” she said. “He will be seen by the same four viewers now as he would have before Elon said I am not giving you millions.”
Ultimately, she sees it as another situation of Lemon playing the victim. “You’re not a victim in any way,” she concluded. “CNN says you’re fired because you turned out to be a misogynist in our view, and he runs and plays the victim. Now, this happens, and it’s ‘I’ve been victimized again… Poor me and my millions.'”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Ruthless by tuning in to episode 746 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.