Elon Musk is facing a US$1.5 million (£1.2 million) lawsuit from former CNN news anchor Don Lemon over his cancelled talk show on social media X.
Lemon launched a range of claims against Musk in a California superior court filing on Thursday, including alleging fraud, misappropriation of his name and a breach of contract.
This follows the abrupt termination of Lemon’s show on X soon after an interview with Musk was filmed in March, in which the Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) owner was grilled on the likes of his drug use and antisemitism on the social media site.
According to Lemon, Musk and X never paid an agreed US$1.5 million for the one-year deal, including a US$200,000 upfront fee.
“This case is straightforward,” Lemon’s attorney, Carney Shegerian, said.
“X executives used Don to prop up their advertising sales pitch, then cancelled their partnership and dragged Don’s name through the mud.”
Musk had labelled Lemon’s show as “CNN, but on social media” following the fallout, with the host having been fired from the news channel over the scandal last year.
“You don’t have to be a genius to see the fraud, negligence and reputational damage here,” Shegerian added.
“Don is an accomplished and hard-hitting journalist who’s committed to defending his good name and holding X’s executives accountable. We look forward to our day in court.”