Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was back on the network’s air Wednesday, promoting a recent interview he conducted with billionaire Elon Musk and talking about how a deal between the two men for Lemon to host a show on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, fell apart.
“First of all, he’s not my boss. X was only content,” Lemon said during an appearance on Erin Burnett’s show. “They were a distribution partner; he never had any editorial control of the show.”
Lemon provided clips to CNN from his interview with Musk, which he said he plans to publish in full Monday.
During one exchange, Lemon asks Musk about recent reports that the billionaire tech and media mogul had a meal with former President Trump, as his campaign works “to shore up his finances” ahead of a rematch with President Biden.
“I was at a breakfast at a friend’s place, and Donald Trump came by,” Musk told Lemon. “That’s it.”
After the pundit asked Musk what he and Trump discussed, Musk laughed and said, “Let’s just say he did most of the talking.”
Musk said Trump did not ask him for money and denied he was going to loan Trump money “to help pay his legal bills,” as Lemon had phrased the question to him.
Lemon announced earlier Wednesday that just hours after he recorded his interview with Musk, the mogul informed him the agreement the two had come to for Lemon to host a show on the platform was being terminated.
Several outlets reported Wednesday that Lemon did not have a signed contract with Musk’s team to host “The Don Lemon Show.”
“During the course of that interview, I never raised my voice. I told him I thought this was important for people to hear,” Lemon told Burnett. “He says this is a public square for all. Maybe we’re learning that a public square should not be privately owned.”
In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Musk wrote of his conversation with the host, “Instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.”
Lemon was fired by CNN last spring following a slew of controversies, including comments the host made about former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s age.
The cable news veteran said he plans to publish his interview with Musk in full Monday on YouTube and X.
Musk said, “Lemon/Zucker is, of course, welcome to build their viewership on this platform along with everyone else.”