ICYMI Don Lemon released his electrifying one-hour interview with Tesla and X (Twitter) honcho Elon Musk, which got testy. The former CNN Tonight journalist, who was let go last year by the network, claimed that his interview with Musk claimed that it bothered the tech mogul so much that Musk chose to cancel the launch of Lemon’s planned show on X, named The Don Lemon Show that the two had been preparing for the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Okay, get this. Lemon pulled no punches on who was going to be his new boss; where he asked Musk about when he allegedly smoked weed on The Joe Rogan Experience and even asked about the Tesla founder’s ketamine prescription.
“It’s pretty private to ask somebody about a medical prescription,” Musk fired back. “There are times when I have a negative chemical state in my brain, like depression, I guess. Depression that’s not linked to any negative news, and ketamine is helpful for getting one out of a negative frame of mind. I’m not a doctor, but if someone has depression issues, I suggest they talk to their doctor about ketamine versus SSRIs.” Then Lemon asked if Musk ever abused ketamine, which Musk denied. He said he took a small amount of ketamine about every other week.
Then, things got hot during the last part of the interview. Lemon asked Musk about advertisers leaving X because they now want their content close to a perception of hate speech that was not being moderated. Lemon asked, “Why is that not a form of free speech? They are free to advertise where they want.” Musk responded, “Whereas the other platforms will censor on behalf of other advertisers, the X platform will not.” Lemon asked, “So you said, ‘If they kill the company, it’s them’ — but doesn’t the buck stop with you?”
“Choose your questions carefully – there’s five minutes left,” Musk responded.
Anyway you slice it, the interview was dicey for two people who were supposed to be on track to launch a show together on X. Later in a statement posted to X, Lemon said the interview put an end to any future professional collaborations, where he stated, “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. He informed me of his decision hours after an interview I conducted with him on Friday. That interview will remain the premiere episode of ‘The Don Lemon Show’ on Monday, March 18.”
Well, there you have it.