‘He Was Upset’: Don Lemon Opens Up About Being Spurned by Elon Musk Day After Interviewing Him

Former CNN host Don Lemon opened up to CNN anchor Erin Burnett about the cancelation of his show on Elon Musk’s X just 24 hours after Musk reportedly became “upset” during an interview with him.

In a Wednesday appearance on his former network, Lemon – who was fired from CNN last year – told Burnett:

During the course of that interview, I never raised my voice. I told him, you know, “I think this is important for people to hear, especially considering the type of discourse that we’re having in the country right now.” And he supposedly says this is a public square for all. Maybe we’re learning that a public square should not be privately owned by someone who doesn’t think that there should be any moderation on that platform.

So it was interesting because, at the end, I could tell that he was upset and he was uncomfortable. 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. You and I do not disagree– 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.”

Lemon concluded, “And 24 hours later… It means freedom of speech does not mean, I guess, the same thing to him as it does to me.”

During Lemon’s interview with Musk, which is set to air in its entirety on Monday, Lemon confronted the billionaire about “hate speech” on X, Musk’s recent meeting with former President Donald Trump, and Musk’s alleged drug use.

Just 24 hours after the interview took place, Musk canceled a deal to host Lemon’s new show on X “after careful consideration.”

Musk claimed in a post that he lost interest in the partnership after he discovered Lemon’s “approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying.”

He added, “And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.”