Don Lemon and Elon Musk's partnership has officially soured. But that's not all. It's been a week of sour lemons for Elon Musk, especially when it comes to electric car maker Tesla.
Lemon, a former CNN anchor, was suddenly “terminated” by Musk hours after the two filmed an interview intended to debut Lemon's new talk show, which will air exclusively on Musk's social platform X. He announced that he had received an email.
The move is a further blow to Musk, as Tesla seems to be facing new stock price declines every day, having lost more than $25 billion in value on the day of Lemon's interview and $300 million in post-market trading. It exceeded 100 million dollars. Since March 1st, Tesla's market capitalization has fallen by more than $100 billion, and it's not clear where the bottom is.
Tesla said in January that its growth rate would be “significantly lower” this year, but the company has recently received increasingly negative reviews from analysts and investors. A wave of analysts are suddenly warning of risks to Tesla's sales outlook as the company's price-cutting strategy becomes less effective. Evercore, for example, called Tesla “the story of 2027” and wrote in a memo that it would likely take several years for the company to fully integrate its lower-cost model.
Meanwhile, Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan said in a letter to clients on Wednesday that the electric vehicle maker's growth in its core markets has slowed and he downgraded the stock to the equivalent of a “sell.” Ta. He expects Tesla's sales to be flat this year and then decline in 2025. To stick the knife in, I wrote that Tesla is a “growth company without growth.”
The night before Lemon and Musk's interview, Lemon released a teaser. “This is Elon Musk like you've never seen before,” he said. I have written At X. “You won't want to miss it.”
However, a few hours after the interview, both men's attitudes changed. “After careful consideration,” Musk announced, “we have decided not to enter into a commercial partnership” with Lemon's show.lemon response The response to Mr. Musk was curt. “You canceled my contract after our interview. I don't think you believe in free speech.”
Lemon's questions were wide-ranging. He cites Musk's claims that white Americans are being deliberately replaced by immigrants in a conspiracy to transfer political power away from white people known as the Great, and questions whether hate speech is Company X's problem and Musk himself. I wanted to know if he was responsible for that. Substitution theory.
The conversation covered everything from “SpaceX to the presidential election,” Lemon wrote. statement. He also asked about Musk's use of the drug ketamine, which is related to global secrecy. Musk said he is not concerned about drug use because he has a prescription.
Following his dismissal, Lemon said: post Musk's “commitment to a global town square where you can ask all the questions and share all the ideas doesn't seem to include the questions people like me can ask him.”
Musk then claimed that Lemon was essentially a puppet of former CNN chief Jeff Zucker. “His approach was basically just 'CNN,' but on social media,” Musk said. I have written. “It lacked credibility because it was just Jeff Zucker speaking through Don, not the real Don Lemon.”
The talk show deal was first announced in January as part of X's plans to feature more video content and attract more big-name hosts on the platform. According to the Guardian, the show was scheduled to air three 30-minute episodes a week.
Lemon's show continues to debut with interviews and is scheduled to air on YouTube, the podcast streaming service, and X on March 18th. But this once sweet exclusive partnership has now turned bitter or sour.
