The battle between Don Lemon and Elon Musk is just heating up.
On Thursday, Lemon officially filed a lawsuit against Musk over a scrapped talk show that Lemon was supposed to host on X.
The suit, which was filed in San Francisco Superior Court, claims that Musk brought Lemon into the deal “through false promises and representations,” and that Musk and his team “deliberately misrepresented what they intended to do” after Lemon had “incurred hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses” preparing for the show.
Related: Don Lemon Says Elon Musk Canceled His New Talk Show After Controversial Interview
“This case is straightforward,” Lemon’s attorney Carney Shegerian said in a statement. “X executives used Don to prop up their advertising sales pitch, then canceled their partnership and dragged Don’s name through the mud. You don’t have to be a genius to see the fraud, negligence, and reputational damage here.”
Lemon was set to host “The Don Lemon Show” on X, which was announced in January. The program was scheduled to have 30-minute-long episodes on the platform three times a week.
The premiere episode, a one-on-one interview with Musk and Lemon, broached topics of hate speech, former President Donald Trump, and Musk’s drug use, which he has been open about using ketamine for years. Still, Musk was combative and agitated, at times, during the interview and refused to answer some questions.
“Like any enterprise, we reserve the right to make decisions about our business partnerships, and after careful consideration, X decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show,” X confirmed after Lemon had posted a statement revealing that the show had been axed.
Related: Elon Musk, Don Lemon Discuss Ketamine, Politics, X’s Purpose
In a leaked clip, Musk can be heard telling Lemon that the “only reason” he was doing the interview is because Lemon “asked for it,” and it’s on Musk’s platform.
Lemon is seeking an undefined amount of financial compensation and other relief.
