It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Don Lemon.
Last week, his deal with X was pulled after a car wreck interview with platform owner Elon Musk.
And now Lemon’s friend, business and technology journalist Kara Swisher, 61, who has interviewed Musk many times, has weighed in to say the 52-year-old SpaceX chief was clearly bored by his interactions with the former CNN anchor.
Swisher gave her damning assessment when she appeared on the second episode of The Don Lemon Show, now streaming on X.
Speaking to a visibly upset Lemon, 58, she said: ‘He gets bored easily…He was bored. So he got annoyed that he had to play word games with you, and then he got annoyed that he had to pay you.
‘And then he thought, ‘Why am I paying this guy for this shit.’
Kara Swisher appeared on the second episode of Don Lemon’s new show on X, weighing in on his train wreck interview with Elon Musk
The tech journalist didn’t mince words, telling Lemon that Musk was bored and ‘got annoyed that he had to play word games’ with the former CNN anchor during the interview
Lemon’s partnership with X was canceled after a one-on-one sit down in which Musk called the anchor ‘boring’ and ‘underwhelming’
Adding insult to injury, she told Lemon: ‘By the way, he didn’t listen to any of your views. Every time you made a point he ignored you and looked away.’
Earlier this week, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that the real reason Lemon’s partnership with X was over before it began was Lemon’s outlandish demands for control and censorship of all news content, talent and politics on the platform.
Lemon accused Musk of abandoning his commitment to free speech — even though he hasn’t been banned from the platform and instead simply won’t benefit from the $10 million marketing budget he demanded they provide to push his show .
And days after his controversial interview with Musk drew more than a million views, DailyMail.com has learned that his current episode has struggled to reach more than a hundred thousand views after two days of streaming and despite relying heavily on material from the first talk.
Lemon claims he is being ‘shadow banned’ and his material is being ‘suppressed’ despite it being readily available and streaming on X.
But if he was looking for a sympathetic ear from his friend Swisher, Lemon didn’t find one.
Asked if she had any advice for him in his new gig, Swisher didn’t sugar coat it, saying: ‘I think (this) is going to be really hard for you, honestly. You come from an industry where we talk about licking you up and down, where it’s a very different environment for anchors.
In the wide-ranging grilling — which at times sounded more like an exposé than an interview — Lemon questioned the Tesla CEO’s stance on vigilante ideology, racism, trans rights and drug use
Musk later said he opted out of moving forward with the partnership because Lemon’s show turned out to be ‘basically just CNN, but on social media
‘You get paid really well, everything is brought to you and producers really run the show, although you’re very involved, so you have a lot of help.’
Cut loose by CNN and without the backup of X’s considerable budget, Lemon today stands very much on its own.
Swisher said, ‘Everything you do has to be about you and your energy and motivation.’
And if he’s counting on Swisher to help boost ratings, Lemon will be disappointed since the journalist, who has 1.5 million followers, notably didn’t repost the episode to his own account.
Sources close to the deal that collapsed between X and Lemon last week noted that the former anchor had come to the table with his ‘CNN concept of money and treatment.’
As revealed by DailyMail.com, not only did he want a $5 million advance, a Tesla Cybertruck, a $10 million marketing budget and 100 percent of gross revenue once X made their money back, he also wanted control and censorship of the platform’s news output, talent and politics.
Indeed, aware of Lemon’s demands, Musk told him: ‘You desperately want censorship. You want it so badly you can taste it.’
Speaking to DailyMail.com, the source explained: ‘If you look through Don’s queries, they veer between the luxurious, to the remote, to censorship.
‘Luxury is you ask for a new car and you ask for a $5 million down payment.
‘Far-out is one of his claims was to be the first podcast in space.
Swisher has yet to share clips of the episode to her 1.5 million followers despite appearing on the show
Days after his controversial interview with Musk drew more than a million views, DailyMail.com has learned that his current episode has struggled to reach more than a hundred thousand views after two days of streaming
Swisher, 61, a business and technology journalist and friend of Lemon’s, has interviewed Musk many times
‘When it comes to censorship, Don wanted control and input for all creators who came to the platform.
‘He wanted a voice in what type of news information would be on the platform.
‘In particular, he wanted to make decisions about the platform’s policies.’
The requirements state that Lemon must be consulted by X ‘when making decisions regarding news content on the platform/any policy changes regarding: content;’ that he receives ‘percentage of the budget on X’s future spend on original content’ and, breathtakingly, ‘don for approving other news/current events talent deals/partnerships in the first year at X.’
The source explained: ‘So, they’ve got these demands and they’re working through them, but nothing has been signed.
Then he sits down with Elon and Elon says, ‘I see where you’re going and I don’t like it.’
That moment came during the debut episode of The Don Lemon show, when Lemon pressed his supposed boss on his refusal to remove content the broadcaster described as “hate speech” and slammed Musk for not using “better content moderation.”
A breakdown of Lemon’s original demands obtained by DailyMail.com confirms that, despite earlier denials from his representatives, they included a $5 million advance, a $10 million annual marketing commitment from X, to be the first podcast to broadcast from space and got a Tesla Cybertruck
The two have since traded barbs online in the week since the show’s deal was released, with Musk branding Lemon a ‘pompous fool’ while Lemon challenged him to ‘actually see it’
Musk replied that X deletes anything illegal, but never goes beyond the letter of the law.
He told Lemon: ‘Moderation is a propaganda word for censorship.’
Clearly frustrated, he continued: ‘You desperately want censorship. You want censorship so badly that you can taste it’.
At the time, the source told DailyMail.com: ‘It’s like, based on the demands and based on this interview and how it all feels, they’re not going to be in conversation with Don anymore.’
The curtain was pulled.
Lemon was fired hours after sitting down one-on-one with Musk, who called the anchor “boring” and “underwhelming.”
The hour and a half grilling included tense exchanges about Musk’s political views, his prescription use of ketamine, meeting with Trump and promoting the Great Replacement Theory.
The source added: ‘Was Elon frustrated? Yes. Has Don shown his cards? Yes.’