During a bizarre interview with the network that unceremoniously fired him in 2023, broadcaster Don Lemon spoke in detail about his recent interview with Elon Musk, revealing that the pair talked about drug use, supporting Trump and white supremacy.
Shortly before his interview, Lemon, 58, revealed that Musk, 52, canceled the one-time CNN anchor’s upcoming self-titled show on X after only one unaired episode was taped.
When asked why this happened, Lemon told former colleague Erin Burnett: ‘That’s a good question for Elon Musk, honestly. What happened? I do not know. As I said in my statement, I had a really good time with the interview.’
In the clips that emerged from the piece, which Lemon described as “tense at moments,” the pair covered a wide range of topics, including Musk’s drug use, his lack of support for Joe Biden and questions about X’s moderation.
CNN aired footage showing Lemon questioning Musk about his recreational use of the horse tranquilizer ketamine. The Tesla founder’s use of the drug has been widely publicized, and he himself has admitted to taking it.
‘The reason I mentioned prescription ketamine on the X platform is because I thought, “Maybe this is something that could help other people.” That’s why I mentioned it. Of course, I’m not a doctor, but I would say that if anyone has problems with depression, they should consider talking to their doctor about ketamine.’
CNN aired footage showing Lemon asking Musk about his recreational use of the horse tranquilizer ketamine
After the clip aired, Lemon said he wouldn’t have brought up the drug if Musk hadn’t already admitted it
Burnett went on to air a tweet from Musk made days earlier in which the outspoken South African complained about migrants changing the political climate in the US
After the clip aired, Lemon said he wouldn’t have taken the drug if Musk hadn’t already admitted it, in the wake of a Wall Street Journal exposé accusing him of micro-dosing at work and full-dosing while partying .
In another exchange, Musk described his recent meeting with former President Donald Trump in Florida.
Musk said he was having breakfast at a friend’s home when Trump happened to stop by. “He did most of the talking,” Musk joked.
Lemon pressed Musk by asking him if he would pay any of Trump’s legal bills and asking if the Republican nominee asked for money, including a political donation. Musk said no.
Lemon then asked if Musk was leaning towards withering Trump or Biden ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Musk said his only ‘lean’ was ‘away from Biden’.
The interview turned tense when Lemon asked Musk about moderation amid the rise in hate speech since the SpaceX founder took over Twitter in October 2022.
Musk has long defended the platform as a ‘digital town square’. The billionaire received huge criticism when he responded to a post that supported white supremacy ‘good replacement theory.’
Musk emphasized that he did not have to answer questions about his approval of the theory. ‘Don, the only reason I’m doing this interview is because you’re on the X platform and you asked for it.’
“I’m constantly criticized, I couldn’t care less,” he added.
The short-lived series, called ‘The Don Lemon Show’, was scrapped shortly after the interview was filmed, leaving Lemon without a platform again.
Lemon continued to outline the meeting in a scathing statement Wednesday before giving more details to Burnett. It served as his first appearance on CNN since his firing, with brass reportedly paying him more than $24 million.
“As I said in my statement, I had a really good time with the interview,” Lemon told Burnett.
‘I said to him while we were doing the interview – and it was tense for a few moments – “I think it’s good for people to see people like you and me, who have different worldviews, come together and talk.”
“Like he says, have freedom of speech,” he clarified.
‘It obviously doesn’t matter to Elon Musk.
‘It’s only to talk to him – or rhetoric,’ Lemon continued, appearing stoic despite the voided contract.
‘Cause it doesn’t seem to matter when it’s about him—questions about him. From people like me.’
He concluded: ‘Freedom of speech is only important when someone you don’t like, or I would say someone who doesn’t share your point of view… if they are allowed to speak freely and express their views.’
“He didn’t quite seem to understand that he was doing it,” Lemon responded, before citing how the billionaire has faced accusations from the Anti-Defamation League and others for tolerating anti-Semitic messages on the platform since he bought it — which led to a public apology and a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau with a rabbi, Ben Shapiro and a Holocaust survivor (see here)
Lemon revealed earlier today that his new X show has been canned by Elon Musk after the billionaire became ‘so upset’ over their unreleased interview
Burnett went on to air a tweet Musk made days before, in which the outspoken South African complained about migrants changing the political climate in the United States.
“Exactly,” Musk wrote, responding to a post by an alt-right political theorist who argued that US officials’ counting of migrants in the census ‘encourages Democrats to continue the (migrant) invasion to build power.’
He continued: ‘Increasing the number of illegals increases the Democrats’ voting power, which causes them to recruit even more!
“If Democrats win president, house and senate (with enough seats to overcome filibusters), they will grant citizenship to all illegals and America will become a permanent one-party deep socialist state.”
The statement is somewhat in line with the ideas of The Great Replacement Theory, which preaches that white European populations are being demographically and culturally replaced by non-white people – especially from Muslim countries.
The ideology – coined by French author Renaud Camus in 2010 – took off on then-Twitter before Musk took over, before being censored by Musk’s predecessors.
When he took the helm in 2022, Musk made it his mission to create a platform free of censorship before continuing to allow such posts to be viewed uncensored.
The far-right activist who made the claim Musk agreed with, for example, had been banned before Musk bought the website for $44 billion.
Hours before, Lemon took to his own X profile to blast Musk’s decision as an attack on his freedom of speech, after which Musk countered by insisting that Lemon is free to share his show on the platform ‘without’ censorship.
However, Tesla’s CEO quickly added, “we reserve the right to make decisions about our business partnerships.”
Meanwhile, after losing what was likely to be a lucrative contract, Lemon told his 1.4 million followers of the fateful meeting: ‘We had a good conversation. (Musk) clearly felt differently,’
He continued: ‘His commitment to a global town square where all questions can be asked and all ideas can be shared does not seem to include questions from people like me.’
“Hardcore questions were asked,” Lemon added in a separate post shortly after, declining to say what angered Musk.
Journalist Kara Swishera New York Magazine contributor claimed the billionaire took offense to “questions about his ketamine use” after insiders told the Wall Street Journal Musk regularly microdoses ketamine for depression and takes full doses at parties
Lemon — who went on to announce his return to the network where he spent 17 years later in the day — has yet to produce the full clip.
The first episode of the canceled show is so far unseen.