Kara Swisher says Elon Musk was ‘bored’ and ‘irritated’ by Don Lemon interview in brutal critique of the former CNN anchor’s disastrous sit-down, in second episode of his new X show
It’s been a rough few weeks for Don Lemon.
Last week, his deal with X was revoked after a car wreck interview with platform owner Elon Musk.
And now Lemon’s girlfriend, business and technology journalist Kara Swisher, 61, who has interviewed Musk many times, has said the 52-year-old SpaceX boss was clearly “bored” by his interaction with the former CNN anchor.
Swisher gave her scathing assessment when she appeared on the second episode of The Don Lemon Show streaming on X.
Speaking to a visibly disturbed Lemon, 58, she said: ‘He gets bored easily… He was bored. So he got annoyed that he had to play word games with you and then he got annoyed that he had to pay you.
“And then he thought, ‘Why am I paying this guy for this son of a bitch.’
Kara Swisher appeared on the second episode of Don Lemon’s new show on
The tech journalist didn’t mince his words, telling Lemon during the interview that Musk “got bored and annoyed that he had to play word games” with the former CNN host.
Lemon’s collaboration with
To make matters worse, she told Lemon, “By the way, he didn’t listen to any of your points of view. Every time you made a point, he ignored you and looked away.”
Earlier this week, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that the real reason Lemon’s partnership with
Lemon accused Musk of abandoning his commitment to freedom of expression – even though he has not been banned from the platform and instead simply won’t benefit from the $10 million marketing budget he demanded from them to promote his show.
And days after his controversial interview with Musk racked up more than a million views, DailyMail.com has learned that his current episode is struggling to get more than a hundred thousand views after two days of streaming and despite relying heavily on material from that first reading.
Lemon claims he is being shadow-banned and his material is being “suppressed” even though it is readily available and streaming on X.
But when he looked for a listening ear from his friend Swisher, Lemon found none.
When asked if she had any advice for him in his new gig, Swisher didn’t sugarcoat it: “I think (this) is going to be really hard for you, honestly. You come from an industry where it’s about licking your ass up and down, where it’s a very different environment for anchors.
During the extended grilling — which at times felt more like a statement than an interview — Lemon addressed the Tesla CEO’s stance on woke ideology, racism, trans rights and drug use.
Musk later said he chose not to move forward with the partnership because Lemon’s show “turned out to be basically just CNN, but on social media.”
“You’re paid very well, everything is offered to you and the producers really run the show, even though you’re very involved, so you have a lot of help.”
Released by CNN and without the support of X’s significant budget, Lemon is all alone these days.
Swisher said, “Everything you do should be about you and your energy and motivation.”
And if he relies on Swisher to increase viewership, Lemon will be disappointed because the journalist with 1.5 million followers didn’t repost the episode to her own account.
Sources close to the deal that collapsed between X and Lemon last week noted that the former host had come to the table with his “CNN idea on money and treatment.”
As revealed by DailyMail.com, not only did he want a $5 million advance, a Tesla Cybertruck, a $10 million marketing budget and 100 percent of gross revenue once X made their money back, he also wanted control and censorship over the news output, talent and policies of the platform.
Musk was aware of Lemon’s demands and told him, “You desperately want censorship.” You want it so bad you can taste it.”
Speaking to DailyMail.com, the source explained: ‘If you look at Don’s questions, they fluctuate between luxury, to the extreme, to censorship.
“Luxury is asking for a flashy new car and asking for five million dollars up front.”
“Far-out is one of his claims to be the first podcast in space.
Swisher has yet to share clips from the episode with her 1.5 million followers, despite appearing on the show
Days after his controversial interview with Musk racked up more than a million views, DailyMail.com has learned that his current episode is struggling to get more than a hundred thousand views after two days of streaming
Swisher, 61, a business and technology journalist and friend of Lemon, has interviewed Musk many times
“Where it crosses over into censorship is that Don wanted control and input over every creator who came to the platform.
“He wanted to have a voice in the type of news information that would appear on the platform.
“Separately, he wanted to make decisions about the platform’s policies.”
The requirements state that Lemon must be consulted by X “when making decisions regarding news content on the platform/any policy changes regarding content;” that he will “receive a percentage of the budget on X’s future spend on original content” and, breathtakingly, “not approve any other news/current affairs talent deals/partnerships in the first year at X.”
The source explained, “So they have demands and they are working on them, but nothing has been signed.
Then he sits down with Elon and Elon says, “I see where you’re going and I don’t like it.”
That moment came during the debut episode of The Don Lemon show, when Lemon pressed his alleged boss on his refusal to remove content that the broadcaster described as “hate speech,” and blasted Musk for not practicing “better content moderation.”
A review of Lemon’s original demands obtained by DailyMail.com confirms that, despite previous refusals from his representatives, they included a $5 million advance and a $10 million annual marketing commitment from that would be broadcast from space and a Tesla Cybertruck
The two have since traded barbs online in the week since the show’s deal was canned, with Musk calling Lemon a “pompous fool” while Lemon challenged him to “really look at it.”
Musk responded that X removes everything illegal, but never goes beyond the letter of the law.
He told Lemon, “Moderation is a propaganda word for censorship.”
Clearly frustrated, he continued: “You desperately want censorship. You want censorship so bad you can taste it.”
At that point, the source told DailyMail.com, “It’s like, based on the demands and based on this interview and based on how it all feels, they’re not going to engage with Don anymore.”
The rug was pulled.
Lemon was fired hours after Musk called the anchor “boring” and “disappointing.”
The hour-and-a-half grilling included tense conversations about Musk’s political leanings, his prescribed use of ketamine, a meeting with Trump and the so-called promotion of the Great Replacement Theory.
The source added, “Was Elon frustrated? Yes. Has Don shown his cards? Yes.’