financetom
Business
financetom
/
Business
/
Elon Musk, X seek dismissal of Don Lemon's lawsuit over canceled partnership
News World Market Environment Technology Personal Finance Politics Retail Business Economy Cryptocurrency Forex Stocks Market Commodities
Elon Musk, X seek dismissal of Don Lemon's lawsuit over canceled partnership
Oct 3, 2024 1:04 AM

*

Musk calls Lemon's reliance on oral agreement unreasonable

*

Musk blames partnership's collapse on Lemon

*

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.

Comments
Welcome to financetom comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Related Articles >
Update: AMD Prepares to Ship MI308 Chips to China Amid US License Review
Update: AMD Prepares to Ship MI308 Chips to China Amid US License Review
Jul 15, 2025
08:50 AM EDT, 07/15/2025 (MT Newswires) -- (Update with AMD's confirmation and latest stock move in the last paragraph.) Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) is planning to restart shipments of its MI308 chips to China as licenses to export those products are approved, a company spokesperson confirmed to MT Newswires Tuesday. We were recently informed by the Department of...
Google agrees $36 million fine for anti-competitive deals with Australia telcos
Google agrees $36 million fine for anti-competitive deals with Australia telcos
Aug 17, 2025
SYDNEY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Google agreed on Monday to pay a A$55 million ($35.8 million) fine in Australia after the consumer watchdog found it had hurt competition by paying the country's two largest telcos to pre-install its search application on Android phones, excluding rival search engines. The fine extends a bumpy period for the Alphabet-owned internet giant in Australia,...
State-owned Chinese carmakers GAC and JAC forecast record Q2 losses
State-owned Chinese carmakers GAC and JAC forecast record Q2 losses
Jul 15, 2025
BEIJING (Reuters) -Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC) and JAC Group expect to post their biggest ever second-quarter losses next month, as the state-owned Chinese automakers struggle with competition at home and abroad. China's auto sector is reeling from overcapacity and an extended price war, prompting regulators and industry executives to warn about risks to the sector's long-term viability. State-owned automakers are...
Dave & Buster's Entertainment Appoints Tarun Lal as CEO
Dave & Buster's Entertainment Appoints Tarun Lal as CEO
Jul 15, 2025
08:52 AM EDT, 07/15/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Dave & Buster's Entertainment (PLAY) said Tuesday it appointed Tarun Lal as chief executive and board member, effective July 14. Lal joins the company from Yum! Brands ( YUM ) , where he most recently was the president of KFC US,the company added. Shares of Dave & Buster's were up 2.3% in recent...
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.financetom.com All Rights Reserved