Former CNN star presenter Don Lemon has sued multi-billionaire Elon Musk and his social media firm X, previously referred to as Twitter, over the cancellation of a chat present deal.
The lawsuit alleges that Mr Musk and his firm unfairly terminated a partnership with Mr Lemon and refused to pay him after utilizing his identify to advertise the social media platform with advertisers.
BBC Information has contacted X for remark concerning the lawsuit.
Earlier this yr, X reached offers with Mr Lemon, former US congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and sports activities radio presenter Jim Rome, because it tries to deliver advertisers again to the platform after a sequence of controversies.
“The lawsuit alleges fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and misappropriation of identify and likeness,” mentioned a put up on the Fb web page of the regulation agency representing Mr Lemon, Shegerian & Associates.
The submitting with the California Superior Court docket in San Francisco alleged X had agreed to pay Mr Lemon $1.5m (£881,000), together with a share of promoting income generated by his content material.
It additionally claims Mr Musk and X used “false guarantees and representations” to assist persuade Mr Lemon to comply with the partnership solely to cancel it after he had spent hundreds of {dollars} on creating the present.
Nevertheless, the deal which might have seen The Don Lemon Present showing on X collapsed abruptly in March after the recording of the primary episode, which featured an interview with Mr Musk.
In a put up on X shortly after the deal fell by way of, Mr Musk mentioned Mr Lemon’s method “was mainly simply ‘CNN, however on social media,’ which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the truth that CNN is dying.”
Throughout the interview, which was recorded at Tesla’s headquarters in Texas, Mr Lemon requested Mr Musk about his use of the drug ketamine, in addition to the rise of hate speech on X.
Mr Lemon had been with CNN for 17 years when he was fired in April 2023.
The community made the choice after Mr Lemon made on-air feedback about then Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley being previous her prime.
Shortly after Mr Lemon’s exit from CNN, Mr Musk reached out to him on X.
On the time, Mr Musk was trying to appeal to advertisers again to the social media platform, which was reeling from a string of controversies that adopted the billionaire’s takeover in 2022.
In October, X chief govt Linda Yaccarino introduced a partnership cope with movie star socialite Paris Hilton.
The next month, Ms Hilton pulled an promoting marketing campaign on X by her leisure firm 11:11 Media.
The departure of Ms Hilton’s agency added to the record of advertisers that had lower ties with X over considerations concerning the platform’s content material moderation insurance policies.
