When life gives you Lemon, sack him
- Reference: 1710862209
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/03/19/musk_lemon_interview/
- Source link:
Only one of those presenters still has the slot, however, and somehow it's the credulous, slack-jawed goon who cheerfully signal-boosted Russian propaganda that won out.
The disintegration of Lemon's (unsigned) contract to host the show on X was [1]widely reported last week, but the former CNN newsman has now [2]published the fruits of his labor – and the reason why the deal was canned.
[3]
To be fair, a serious journalist should probably have known better than to sit down with Musk and expect the agreement to remain intact, yet the interview shows that while you can take a man out of CNN, it is considerably harder to take CNN out of a man.
[4]
[5]
On that note, Lemon's "wishlist" to have the show run on X was [6]reported to include a "free Tesla Cybertruck, a $5 million upfront payment on top of an $8 million salary, an equity stake in the multibillion-dollar company, and the right to approve any changes in X policy as it relates to news content" – so maybe it was a joke after all. Lemon strenuously denies these claims, we should add.
All this blatant shit-flinging between Lemon and X forms the backdrop for a toe-curlingly uncomfortable watch, with Musk's face reddening like a child being rebuked by their principal as Lemon constantly pushed back against the narratives he weaves online.
[7]
Because while Carlson will [8]lap up even the most outlandish statements from Musk's mouth like a malnourished kitten, Lemon, as most actual journalists would, took the opportunity to hold the overpowered tycoon to account, questioning his behavior and past statements.
You know, the good stuff that Tesla stockholders just love to hear about.
After some back and forth about whether Twitter (as was) was lefty or righty, Lemon's own perceived stance, Musk's relationship with Donald Trump, and some Tesla Roadster guff, the conversation took an awkward turn when Lemon drilled into Musk's ketamine prescription to treat an occasional "negative chemical state."
[9]
While it has a reputation as a "horse tranquilizer" in illicit transactions, ketamine is also known to have a fast-acting though transient effect on depression. The problem was Lemon implying that Musk was dissociating with heroic doses while posting his infamous hot takes on X.
He also prodded about whether such issues might get in the way of SpaceX's government contracts and his companies' standing on Wall Street. To which Musk said: "From the standpoint of Wall Street, what matters is execution ... For investors, if there's something I'm taking, I should keep taking it."
[10]Grok-1 chatbot code released – open source or open Pandora's box?
[11]Third time is almost the charm for SpaceX's Starship
[12]Trump 'tried to sell Truth Social to Musk' as SPAC deal stalled
[13]OpenAI goes public with Musk emails, claiming he backed for-profit plans
It was downhill from there. Lemon barreled through all the recent Musk issues of concern without flinching, from his supposed endorsement of the [14]Great Replacement Theory , to X's increasingly hands-off approach to content moderation, diversity, trans rights, the "woke mind virus," and ending on a particular sore point for Musk – [15]advertising on X .
With regard to the first thorn, Musk said: "Don, the only reason I'm doing this interview is because you're on the X platform, and you asked for it. Otherwise I would not do this interview."
On moderation, he suggested that Lemon "loves" censorship. "Moderation is a propaganda word for censorship ... If something's illegal, we're going to take it down. If it's not illegal then we're putting the thumb on the scale and we're being censors."
The best bit, though, was when Lemon took Musk to task for saying advertisers would kill the company. "But doesn't the buck stop with you?"
"Don ... choose your next question carefully, there's five minutes left."
Lemon pressed again. "I acquired X to protect freedom of speech in America, the First Amendment," the South African said, "and I'm going to stick to that. And if that means making less money, so be it."
Visibly agitated, Musk steered the rest of his answers toward his favorite talking points – population collapse, the future of civilization, blah blah blah – insisting that he is more interested in the reality of goodness than the perception of it.
Then he rushed off to a "room full of people" waiting for him. Lemon's agent later received a text: "Contract is canceled."
All of which is more proof that the free speech absolutist's commitment to free speech extends only as far as not being mean to him. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.semafor.com/article/03/13/2024/don-lemons-deal-with-elon-musks-collapses-over-interview
[2] https://youtu.be/hhsfjBpKiTw?si=dq_2bp661nKPkO76
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZfnEpToFZTNmWSs9I6J8nQAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZfnEpToFZTNmWSs9I6J8nQAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZfnEpToFZTNmWSs9I6J8nQAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://nypost.com/2024/03/15/media/don-lemon-demanded-tesla-cybertruck-5m-advance-equity-in-x-before-elon-musk-canned-him-sources/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZfnEpToFZTNmWSs9I6J8nQAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://youtu.be/LCOe3a9EHJs?si=ljrtaifb24u1cUjr
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZfnEpToFZTNmWSs9I6J8nQAAABc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/18/grok_chatbot_code_released/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/14/spacex_starship_launch/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/12/donald_trump_tried_to_sell/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/06/openai_musk_lawsuit/
[14] https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/great-replacement-explainer
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/30/musk_murders_x/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Lemon Party
The Lemon Party Motto: Free Lemon-aid for everyone!
All of which is more proof that the free speech absolutist's commitment to free speech extends only as far as not being mean to him.
There's a big difference between allowing free speech on your platform and paying a salary and stock options for it.
And if Xitler had ever made such a distinction, that would be a valid point. However, when you're perfectly fine accepting money from a bunch of Nazi's to spread hate speech, but someone asking you about alleged drug use causes you to throw a giant man-baby tantrum, you're not exactly arguing from a position of strength. We also don't really know what the terms of the proposed contract were, though I'm more inclined to believe Lemon just on the basis that Xitler has an established track record of lying about things. Funding secured, that he held one of his kids as they died, that he'd never allow Alex Jones back on Xitter after the Sandy Hook comments, etc, etc.
Xitler throwing a giant man-baby tantrum? Must be a day ending in "y".
Also funny how the CTO of a company can seemingly make decisions that would be more the domain of the CEO. It's almost like the person with the CEO title is just a puppet who has no real authority.
“Carlson will lap up even the most outlandish statements from Musk's mouth like a malnourished kitten”
That wasn’t Musk’s mouth .
To be fair, most people talk from their mouth, so it's an easy mistake to make.
For investors, if there's something I'm taking, I should keep taking it
Yep, because his combination of ketamine use and weed smoking has resulted in them making SO much money from their Twitter investment....
I can't stand any of them.
Musk has gone off the rails many times. Although he does come across as sensible some of the time. And Twitter is STILL pretty much the only big social media place where you can say legal but inconvenient things that western governments don't like, so there's that. He still gets on my nerves though, like a spoilt man-child billionaire, who is used to people saying yes sir.
Tucker is a conspiracy theorist nutcase, like Fox News on steroids (I guess, have never actually watched Fox). Pay-per-click-bait. Occasionally he makes some good points.
Lemon was a bit of a Covid nazi, blaming the unvaccinated (like most of corporate media). CNN literally painted Rogan green using PhotoShop to make him look ill, and that was while Lemon was still there. So, they are on my list of Joke Media (along with The Guardian, The Atlantic, and many others)
So, that's an interview / car crash I definitely won't be watching thank-you-very-much.
But thanks for taking the hit for the team El Reg.
Sour faced Musk
like he'd been sucking on a Lemon
"it's the credulous, slack-jawed goon ... that won out"
The rightwing monied elite cabal have to stick together.
Lemon Party
The answer is simple. Lemon should start a Lemon Party.
wink - those who know, know