San Francisco judge greenlights Don Lemon’s lawsuit against Elon Musk and X

A judge in San Francisco greenlighted former CNN host Don Lemon’s lawsuit against Elon Musk and X over his proposed show on the social media platform that was cancelled before it even began last year.

On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn cleared the way for Lemon to proceed to trial against the mercurial billionaire whom he sued for claims including fraud, breach of implied contract, and misappropriation of name and likeness.

In early 2024, it was announced that the “award winning TV journalist” would host “The Don Lemon Show” three times a week exclusively on X.

We’re delighted to announce a new content partnership with @DonLemon for his new project, The Don Lemon Show. The award winning TV journalist will share his unique and honest voice in 30 minute episodes, three times a week, covering politics, culture, sports and entertainment.…

— Business (@XBusiness) January 9, 2024

But something queered the relationship before the show’s premiere. Musk was not pleased with a sit-down interview with the ex-CNN personality, which he called “invasive and charged,” and called off the partnership.

“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,” Lemon said in a statement posted to his since-deleted X account in March 2024.

“His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media’, which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying,” Musk said at the time. “And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity.”

The former CNN host sued Musk and recently departed X CEO Linda Yaccarino in August.

Lemon reportedly had a ridiculous list of demands including “a free Tesla Cybertruck, a $5 million upfront payment on top of an $8 million salary, an equity stake in the multibillion-dollar company, and the right to approve any changes in X policy as it relates to news content,” according to the New York Post.

He also “demanded a private jet flight to Las Vegas, a suite for him and his fiance, and that the company pay for their day drinking and massages,” the outlet reported, claims that Lemon denied.

“He made a series of impressively insane demands. We declined. Therefore, there was no deal,” the Tesla/SpaceX CEO said in an August 2, 2024, post to X.

He made a series of impressively insane demands. We declined. Therefore, there was no deal.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 2, 2024

“The ruling means Don can hold X and Musk accountable in open court. Musk is subject to the legal process, just like everyone else, and that’s important. There’s no question about Musk’s motives and liability, as documented in his own texts and on X for millions to see,” Lemon’s attorney Carney Shegerian said in a statement.

It’s the latest bit of bad news for the former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief who firebombed his relationship with President Donald J. Trump over dissatisfaction with the “One, Big Beautiful Bill” with an ugly public rebuke in which he claimed that the president was in Jeffrey Epstein’s files and that’s the reason that they hadn’t been released.

Last week, Musk announced that he was forming a new political party, the America Party.

“I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks. He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States – The System seems not designed for them,” Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social after the tech titan’s big announcement.

Lemon was fired from his longtime CNN gig in April 2023 after a series of incidents that had become increasingly problematic for the cable network, including alleged quarreling with co-workers and racist and sexist remarks about GOP presidential hopefuls Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy.