Elon Musk recently made headlines by likening Don Lemon to Veruca Salt, the infamous character known for her demanding nature in the ‘Willy Wonka’ movies. This comparison was shared on a social media post late Friday night, where Musk humorously dubbed Lemon as “Don ‘Veruca Salt’ [lemon emoji],” drawing a parallel to the character’s incessant demands from her wealthy father in the classic 1971 movie.
The tension between these two prominent figures stems from Musk’s decision to terminate Don Lemon’s contract for a new TV show on the X platform, which Musk owns. This move came after a controversial interview between Musk and Lemon, which was intended to be featured on X but was ultimately shelved.
Earlier in the week, Musk expressed his dissatisfaction with Lemon following their interview. The conversation did not go as planned, leading Musk to cancel the agreement before the show could be broadcasted.
During the interview, Lemon asked questions that Musk found disagreeable, prompting him to end their contract prematurely. This decision was made before the show had a chance to air.
Following the fallout, Lemon appeared on CNN, his previous employer, to discuss the incident with host Erin Burnett. During this appearance, snippets of the contentious interview with Musk were shown, highlighting topics such as hate speech on X and Musk’s alleged ketamine use.
Reports from the New York Post revealed that Lemon had made several demands during contract negotiations with Musk. These demands reportedly included a free Tesla Cybertruck and an $8 million contract, with $5 million to be paid upfront.
In the aftermath of these events, we had the opportunity to speak with Don Lemon. He shared with us his belief that X would benefit from having his voice on the platform. However, it seems Musk disagrees with this sentiment.