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Musk calls Lemon's reliance on oral agreement unreasonable
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Musk blames partnership's collapse on Lemon
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Lemon seeks $1.5 million plus ad revenue share
By Jonathan Stempel
Sept 24 (Reuters) - Elon Musk and X asked a federal
judge to dismiss former CNN anchor Don Lemon's lawsuit claiming
they defrauded him by canceling a partnership on the social
media platform following a contentious interview.
In a Monday night filing in San Francisco federal court,
Musk said he did nothing wrong by allegedly telling Lemon there
was "no need" to sign a contract, and that he and X would give
Lemon "full authority and control" over his work even if they
did not like his views.
Musk called it unreasonable for Lemon to rely on a vague
statement that a written contract was unnecessary for a
multimillion-dollar partnership.
The billionaire also blamed the collapse of the partnership in
March on Lemon, saying he genuinely believed it would work
before Lemon "soured the relationship by conducting an invasive
and inappropriate interview of him."
Lemon's interview addressed content moderation, hate speech
and Musk's drug use, among other subjects.
Lawyers for Lemon did not immediately respond on Tuesday to
requests for comment.
X also sought a dismissal of Lemon's lawsuit, saying the
breakdown of a high-profile business arrangement "may be grounds
for upset feelings" but did not entitle him to prevail.
Lemon sought a minimum $1.5 million plus a share of
advertising revenue in the first year, and potentially millions
of dollars more for drawing followers and advertisers to X.
Many advertisers concerned about hate speech and misinformation
on X fled the platform once known as Twitter following Musk's
$44 billion takeover in 2022.
Musk's other businesses include Tesla and SpaceX.
In seeking a dismissal of Lemon's lawsuit, Musk also said
the case did not belong in California, originally in a state
court, because he was a Texas resident while Lemon lived in New
York. He said the case could alternatively be moved to Texas.
Lemon spent 17 years at CNN, becoming one of its most
recognizable personalities.
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. Musk et al, U.S. District Court,
Northern District of California, No. 24-06487.