Elon Musk and X have asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who claims the social media platform committed fraud by terminating their partnership following a controversial interview.
In documents filed Monday night in San Francisco federal court, Musk said he did nothing wrong by telling LeMond he “didn't have to” sign the contract, and that he and Mr. X intended to give LeMond “full authority and control” over the work, even if they didn't like his views.
Musk said it was unreasonable for LeMond to rely on vague statements that multi-million dollar partnerships don't require written agreements.
The billionaire also blamed Lemon for the breakdown of their partnership in March, saying he genuinely believed it would work before Lemon “soured the relationship by conducting intrusive and inappropriate interviews with him.”
Lemon's interview covered topics including content moderation, hate speech and Musk's drug use.
Lemon's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
X too He asked for the lemon lawsuit to be dismissed.He said the breakdown of a high-profile business deal “may provide grounds for emotional upset” but was not enough to entitle him to a successful lawsuit.
Lemon had asked for a minimum of $1.5 million in the first year, plus a cut of advertising revenue, and could have asked for millions more to help X attract followers and advertisers.
Many advertisers concerned about hate speech and misinformation on X have pulled away from the platform formerly known as Twitter since Musk bought it for $44 billion in 2022.
Musk's other ventures include Tesla and SpaceX.
In seeking dismissal of Lemon's lawsuit, Musk also said the suit shouldn't be tried in state court in California because he lives in Texas and Lemon lives in New York. He said the suit could be moved to Texas.
Lemon worked at CNN for 17 years and became one of its best-known faces.
He was fired in April 2023, two months after making on-air comments about women and then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley that were widely perceived as sexist. Lemon later apologized.
The case is Lemon v. Mask et al., U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 24-06487.
