Musk abruptly cancels ‘The Don Lemon Show’ on X after he sits for the program’s first interview

FILE - Don Lemon attends the 15th annual CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute at the American Museum of Natural History on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, in New York. Elon Musk abruptly canceled “The Don Lemon Show,” a talk show on the social network X, after its former CNN anchor host recorded an interview with the billionaire for its first episode. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Billionaire Elon Musk abruptly canceled “The Don Lemon Show” on his social media network X after the former CNN anchor recorded an interview with the billionaire for its as-yet unaired first episode.

Musk owns X, formerly known as Twitter, and frequently proclaims himself a “free speech absolutist.” In a post on X, the San Francisco-based company said only that after careful consideration, it “decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.” It added that Lemon’s show “is welcome to publish its content on X, without censorship, as we believe in providing a platform for creators to scale their work and connect with new communities.”

In a video posted to X on Wednesday, Lemon declared that “Elon Musk is mad at me ” and said he will be airing his interview with the Tesla CEO on YouTube and via podcast on Monday.

Lemon didn’t go into specifics about the source of Musk’s alleged unhappiness.