Dive Brief:
- Elon Musk is asking a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit filed by former CNN anchor Don Lemon resulting from the collapse of a business deal for Lemon to produce an interview show on X, Musk’s social media platform. Musk “genuinely believed” that X and Lemon could form a beneficial partnership and Musk “changed course only after Plaintiff soured the relationship by conducting an invasive and inappropriate interview of him,” according to the billionaire’s response, filed Monday.
- Lemon brought no actionable claims in his complaint and Musk did not act improperly by telling him they had “no need for a formal written agreement” and that Lemon would have “full control and authority” over the show on X, according to the filing. Musk’s comments are “a non-actionable opinion” that does not support grounds for a misrepresentation claim, according to the filing.
- Musk also requested that the U.S. District Court in San Francisco move the case, which Lemon filed in California state court, to Texas if it is not dismissed. Musk argues that litigating the case in California would “not be efficient for any party” because he lives in Texas, and Lemon and X CEO Linda Yaccarino, one of the defendants, are New York residents. X has moved its headquarters to Texas.
Dive Insight:
In January, Lemon agreed to a one-year deal that would pay him $1.5 million plus 60% of gross advertising revenue generated from his content, according to his lawsuit. The arrangement could have also paid Lemon millions more, based upon the show’s ability to bring new advertisers and users to X, formerly known as Twitter.
Musk argued that it was unreasonable for Lemon to enter a business deal worth so much money without a formal written agreement.
“As a sophisticated party experienced in dealmaking, it was unreasonable for Plaintiff to rely on vague and subjective representations that a written agreement was unnecessary to structure a multi-million-dollar deal,” Musk’s lawyers wrote.
Musk was the first guest on Lemon’s X show in March, an interview in which the billionaire grew tense over questions about his use of ketamine to treat depression and other issues on which Musk has courted controversy, such as immigration, hate speech on X and content moderation.
Within a day of the interview, Musk sent a text message — “contract is canceled” — to Lemon’s agent.
“Mr. Musk genuinely believed that (Lemon) and X could form a productive and mutually beneficial partnership and that Mr. Musk changed course only after Plaintiff soured the relationship by conducting an invasive and inappropriate interview of him,” his attorneys wrote.
Lemon’s attorney, Carney Shegerian, said in a statement to Legal Dive that “X’s response confirms the company terminated its contract with Don after he asked interview questions that Musk didn’t like.” The filing “is clearly about Musk’s ego, not the facts,” Shegerian wrote. “We look forward to our day in court.”
Musk’s lawyers also contend that Lemon did not properly serve the billionaire with the August complaint, making several insufficient efforts to meet him at X’s former San Francisco office and by subsequently serving an X employee.
Last week, Musk filed notice seeking to move the lawsuit from California state court to federal court. If the court doesn’t dismiss Lemon’s suit, Musk wants the litigation to occur in Austin.
X has seen its advertising revenue plummet since Musk acquired the platform in October 2022. Lemon appeared on CNN for 17 years until he was fired in April 2023 over remarks that he made about Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who was running for president.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comment from Lemon’s attorney.
