Megyn Kelly said disgraced former CNN anchor Don Lemon “behaved like an a–hole” during his interview with Elon Musk and that he should have been more “grateful” to the owner of social media site X for “resurrecting his career.”
Kelly mocked Lemon for having his contract terminated by X just before the social media site was about to stream the first episode of his new show because of a contentious interview with Musk.
“Don Lemon got fired again already,” Kelly told her audience on Thursday during an episode of the SiriusXM podcast “The Megyn Kelly Show.”
“He’s fired before he really got hired. It’s very hard for Don Lemon to keep a job.”
Kelly said that Lemon should have been more “grateful” to Musk for “resurrecting his career.”
“Amazingly, Elon Musk offered him a deal to post a new show on X, and Elon Musk is a risk taker so I guess he thought this would be a fun risk,” Kelly said.
“Just as risky, I guess, as like putting spaceships into outer space because it really was just that risky, Elon.”
Lemon’s questions covered touchy topics that included Musk’s drug use and the various lawsuits against the mogul and that he has lodged, Deadline reported.
Kelly said that Lemon finds it “hard” to “both be a good journalist and be a good employee.”
“You know, the man’s paying your salary, so you do owe him a level of respect and discretion, and at the same time you want to prove to us in your first interview back how hard hitting you are, and those two goals are not aligned,” Kelly said.
The former Fox News host said she was surprised that Lemon handled the interview with Musk in the manner that he did in light of the fact that Musk “just resurrected your career.”
“Show some gratitude!” Kelly said, adding that Lemon should have asked Musk about “how amazing X is doing and how it’s thriving notwithstanding all the doomsday predictions and whatever happened to loser Threads over on Facebook.”
Kelly scoffed at the notion that Lemon was a “victim” by “claiming that his free speech [was violated].”
“You’re not a victim in any way,” Kelly said, noting that Lemon received a $25 million payout after leaving CNN.
The Post has sought comment from Lemon.
Musk abruptly canceled “The Don Lemon Show” on his social media network X after the former CNN anchor recorded an interview with the billionaire for its as-yet unaired first episode.
In a post on X, the San Francisco-based company said only that after careful consideration, it “decided not to enter into a commercial partnership with the show.”
It added that Lemon’s show “is welcome to publish its content on X, without censorship, as we believe in providing a platform for creators to scale their work and connect with new communities.”
In a video posted to X, Lemon declared that “ Elon Musk is mad at me ″ and said he will be airing his interview with the Tesla CEO on YouTube and via podcast on Monday.
In a later CNN discussion with Lemon on Monday, anchor Erin Burnett played clips of his Musk interview in which the Tesla and SpaceX CEO grew testy when asked about content moderation and the spread of hate speech on the X platform.
Musk shot back hours later after touring a Tesla plant in Germany.
“His approach was basically just ‘CNN, but on social media,’ which doesn’t work, as evidenced by the fact that CNN is dying,” Musk posted on X.
“And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity. All this said, Lemon/Zucker are of course welcome to build their viewership on this platform along with everyone else.”
A source with knowledge of the hour-and-a-half-long interview also noted that Lemon seemed lost without former CNN boss Zucker’s guidance.
“He was unpolished. He didn’t have producers in his ear. Jeff Zucker used to be in his ear and he would repeat back everything he was told,” the source told The Post.
Lemon was fired by CNN last year after a 17-year run with the network.
His ouster came a little over two months after he apologized for on-air comments about then-Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley not being in “her prime” that he made during his short run as a morning show host.
Additional Reporting by Alexandra Steigrad
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
