A San Francisco judge on Thursday gave Don Lemon the green light to move forward with his lawsuit against Elon Musk’s X after his show on the platform was abruptly canceled.
The former CNN host sued X, its owner Musk and Linda Yaccarino, who quit as CEO on Wednesday, after his content deal was axed by Musk following their contentious interview, which was supposed to launch Lemon’s new show.
Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn gave Lemon the go-ahead on claims including fraud, misappropriation of name and likeness and breach of implied contract. But the judge threw out allegations including negligent misrepresentation, defamation, retaliation, negligence and harassment.
“The ruling means Don can hold X and Musk accountable in open court,” Lemon’s attorney, Carney Shegerian, said in a statement. “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.”
Neither X nor lawyers for Musk responded to requests for comment.
Musk did respond to Lemon’s lawsuit after it was filed in 2024, writing on X at the time: “He made a series of impressively insane demands. We declined. Therefore, there was no deal.
The Post reported that Lemon had demanded a $5 million upfront payment on top of an $8 million salary, and an equity stake in the social media platform to do the show.
Lemon was tapped to host a show with exclusive content on X in early 2024, but Musk quickly killed the partnership after being grilled, including about hate speech on the platform.
He also apparently insisted on a free Tesla Cybertruck, a private jet to Las Vegas complete with a suite for him and his fiancé — and that the company pay for their day drinking and massages, as The Post exclusively reported.
The tech titan had been looking to move the case to federal court in Texas, but that was denied by the judge.
According to the complaint, Lemon initially met with Yaccarino and Brett Weitz, head of content, talent and brand sales, in December 2023, where they allegedly assured him that he had X’s “full support,” have “full authority” over his work and that the platform would not interfere.
X allegedly told Lemon that the deal would be for one year.
In return, Lemon — who was ousted by CNN in April 2023 after a series of blowups with his morning show co-hosts — was to receive $1.5 million, as well as a 60% cut in ad revenue and performance-related bonuses based on how many followers his show picked up, according to court records.
Lemon claimed in the suit that he was then “rushed” into agreeing to the partnership deal, and was told that it would be rescinded unless he attended the CES conference in January and announced it on X the same day — a move meant to entice advertisers attending the event.
With that, and his “knowledge of Yaccarino’s reputation as a successful media executive, Lemon agreed to enter into the exclusive partnership deal,” the lawsuit said.
A buzzy interview with Musk on March 8, 2024, was supposed to serve as a launching point for Lemon’s new show on X before the grilling ticked off the mogul.
But after the testy interview Musk sacked Lemon.
According to the lawsuit, Musk sent a text to Lemon’s agent with the words, “contract is canceled.”
Weitz told Lemon X was “not going to pay him or follow through with the promises and representations made to him because there was no signed agreement, despite Musk previously representing to Lemon that there would be no need for a formal written agreement or to ‘fill out paperwork,’” the lawsuit alleges.
The judge said that Lemon can pursue claims that the contract wasn’t enforced and unjust enrichment. He also will allow Lemon to correct a claim of breach of express contract, noting that his lawsuit did not specify whether it was “oral, written or implied.”
Among the claims the judge tossed out was allegations of defamation. Musk had made a comparison of Lemon to Veruca Salt, a character in Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” over his contract demands. The judge said Lemon did not show that there was “minimal merit” to that claim.
