Megyn Kelly says disgraced former CNN anchor Don Lemon “acted like an a-hole” during an interview with Elon Musk, adding, “I hope he can revive his career.” He said he should have been more “thankful” to the owner of social media site X.
Kelly mocked that Lemon had his contract terminated by X just before the social media site was about to stream the first episode of his new show due to a controversial interview with Musk.
“Don Lemon has already been fired again,” Kelly told viewers Thursday during an episode of SiriusXM’s podcast “The Megyn Kelly Show.”
“He was fired before he was actually hired. It’s very difficult for Don Lemon to keep a job.”
“Surprisingly, Elon Musk offered him a deal to contribute a new show to X. Elon Musk is a risk taker, so I guess he thought this would be a fun risk.” Mr. Kelly said.
“I think it’s as dangerous as launching a spaceship into space, because it was really dangerous, Elon.”
Lemon’s questions also covered sensitive topics, including Musk’s drug use and various lawsuits filed by and against Musk, Deadline reported.
Kelly said he found it “difficult” for Lemon to “balance being a good journalist and a good employee.”
“You know, this guy is paying your salary, so you owe him a certain amount of respect and discretion. And at the same time, you don’t want to show him how tough you are in the first interview. We want to prove that there is, and those two goals are: ‘There’s no alignment,”’ Kelly said.
The former Fox News host said he was surprised that Lemon responded to the interview with Musk the same way, considering the fact that Musk “just revived his career.”
“Let’s show some gratitude!” Kelly added, adding that Lemon told Musk “despite how great Company X is doing, despite all the doomsday predictions and what happened to the loser threads on Facebook. He added that he should have asked “how they are thriving.”
Kelly ridiculed the idea that Lemon was a “victim,” arguing that his free speech rights were justified. [was violated]”
“You are in no way a victim,” Kelly said, noting that Lemon received a $25 million payout after leaving CNN.
The Post has reached out to Lemon for comment.
Musk abruptly canceled “The Don Lemon Show” on his social media network X after the former CNN anchor recorded an interview with the billionaire in the first episode, which has not yet aired.
In a post on X, the San Francisco-based company said only that after careful consideration, it had “decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.”
He added that Lemon’s show “welcomes publishing content on X without censorship, as we believe in providing a platform for creators to expand their work and connect with new communities.”
In a video posted to X, Lemon declared that “Elon Musk is mad at me” and said he would broadcast an interview with the Tesla CEO on YouTube and a podcast on Monday.
In a subsequent debate with CNN’s Lemon on Monday, anchor Erin Burnett played a clip of Musk’s interview in which the Tesla and SpaceX CEO criticized content moderation and hate speech on the X platform. He became bitter when asked about the prevalence of
Musk fired back hours after touring a Tesla factory in Germany.
“His approach was basically ‘CNN but on social media,’ and as the fact that CNN is dying shows, that doesn’t work,” Musk posted on X.
“And it lacked authenticity because it wasn’t the real Don Lemon, it was actually just Jeff Zucker speaking through Don. We welcome you to grow your audience on this platform as well.”
A person familiar with the 90-minute interview also noted that Lemon appears to have lost his way without the guidance of former CNN president Zucker.
“He was unsophisticated. He didn’t have a producer in his ear. Jeff Zucker would come in his ear and repeat everything he was told,” a source told the Post. Ta.
Lemon was fired from CNN last year after 17 years.
His firing comes more than two months after then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who briefly served as morning show host, apologized for on-air comments that she was not in her “prime years.”
Additional reporting by Alexandra Steigrad
