Don Lemon on Wednesday announced that Elon Musk canceled the former CNN anchor's planned show on X just hours after the two men conducted an interview.
"Elon Musk has canceled the partnership I had with X, which they announced as part of their public commitment to amplifying more diverse voices on their platform," Lemon wrote in a statement he posted on X.
"He informed me of his decision hours after an interview I conducted with him on Friday."
Lemon then discussed the show's cancellation in a video posted on X soon after his statement and added the Musk interview had been "tense at times."
"Elon Musk is mad at me," Lemon said in the video. "This does not change anything about the show except for my relationship with Elon and X. And there, there's a whole lot that went down and I'm going to tell you about it in the coming days.
"I thought the first person to interview, no brainer, Elon Musk. The man who calls himself a free-speech absolutist. … Apparently, 'free-speech absolutism' doesn't apply when it comes to questions about him from people like me."
Musk responded to Lemon's comments with his own post on X.
"His [Lemon's] approach was basically just 'CNN, but on social media', which doesn't work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying," Musk wrote.
"And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just [former CNN President] Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity."
The X owner added that Lemon was "welcome" to build the show's viewership and share it on the platform.
The Musk interview was conducted for the debut episode of "The Don Lemon Show," which was supposed to debut on X and YouTube on Monday. In his video, Lemon said the show still will appear on YouTube, and he intended to share it on X.
Writing there were "no restrictions" put on their interview, Lemon and Musk discussed everything from SpaceX to the presidential election, TheWrap reported.
"We had a good conversation," Lemon wrote. "Clearly he felt differently. His commitment to a global town square where all questions can be asked and all ideas can be shared seems not to include questions of him from people like me.”
In January, social media company X announced that Lemon would host a new exclusive show on the platform covering politics, culture, sports and entertainment.
X, under CEO Linda Yaccarino, has tried to pivot to a more video-centric offering, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Lemon was fired by CNN in April, less than six months after he began co-hosting "CNN This Morning." He had come under fire after saying in February 2022 that that former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, then 51, "isn't in her prime" after she called for mental competency tests for politicians over 75.