Former CNN anchor Don Lemon sues Elon Musk for $35 million

Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has sued Tesla CEO and X social media platform owner Elon Musk for $35 million over a content partnership between the two that fell apart this spring.

Musk abruptly canceled the deal not long after Lemon asked the Tesla CEO about his use of drugs, including ketamine, which is relatively new on the scene and used for treating anxiety, mental health and emotional disorders.

Musk had said his ketamine use is "good for Tesla investors" because the drug puts him in a calmer state of mind, CBS reported.

Musk posted on X that he takes the drug "when my brain chemistry sometimes goes super negative."

In January, X announced that Lemon would bring his "unique and honest voice" to the platform in a partnership that was scheduled to appear as a series of three 30-minute weekly episodes.

During the initial and what turned out to be the only interview, Lemon questioned Musk on a series of topics, including his use of ketamine, for which Musk said he has a prescription, and that he is treated with it once every other week.

The maiden episode surfaced online and was slightly combative from the start. Musk is known to take issue with interviewers who ask tough or follow-up questions, or tread into subject areas Musk is uncomfortable with.

He has even been known to turn publicly on employees he once supported, such as former Twitter content moderator Yoel Roth, whom Musk initially took under his wing, but turned on after he decided to leave the company over ethical concerns.

Musk attacked and mocked Roth's sexuality and past behavior in social media posts, and at one point inferred that Roth was a pedophile. Roth said he and his partner received death threats following Musk's open attacks.

Lemon's lawsuit comes about five months after the partnership collapsed, which occurred days before the first episode was set to air on X.

Musk complained about Lemon's line of questioning, describing it as "not cogent."

Lemon's lawsuit alleges that Musk's company and associates "deliberately misrepresented what they intended to do," which it claims was to capitalize on Lemon's name and status to help resuscitate X's reputation after it lost a series of major advertisers following Musk's endorsement of an anti-Semitic post.

Lemon incurred "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in losses to create his own media company to produce the X content, he claimed.