Former CNN star presenter Don Lemon has sued multi-billionaire Elon Musk and his social media firm X, previously generally known as Twitter, over the cancellation of a content material deal.
The lawsuit alleges that Mr Musk and his firm unfairly terminated a partnership with Mr Lemon and refused to pay him after utilizing his title to advertise the social media platform with advertisers.
BBC Information has contacted X for remark concerning the lawsuit.
Earlier this yr, X reached offers with Mr Lemon, former US congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and sports activities radio presenter Jim Rome, because it tries to convey advertisers again to the platform after a collection of controversies.
The lawsuit, filed within the California Superior Court docket in San Francisco alleges X had agreed to pay Mr Lemon $1.5m (£881,000), together with a share of promoting income generated by his content material.
It additionally claims Mr Musk and X used “false guarantees and representations” to assist persuade Mr Lemon to conform to the partnership solely to cancel it after he had spent hundreds of {dollars} on creating the present.
Nonetheless, the deal which might have seen The Don Lemon Present showing on X collapsed abruptly in March after the recording of the primary episode, which featured an interview with Mr Musk.
In a put up on X shortly after the deal fell by, Mr Musk mentioned Mr Lemon’s method “was principally simply ‘CNN, however on social media,’ which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the truth that CNN is dying.”
In the course of the interview, which was recorded at Tesla’s headquarters in Texas, Mr Lemon requested Mr Musk about his use of the drug ketamine, in addition to the rise of hate speech on X.
Mr Lemon had been with CNN for 17 years when he was fired in April 2023.
The community made the choice after Mr Lemon made on-air feedback about then Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley being previous her prime.
