Former CNN anchor Lemon sues Musk over canceled X deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former CNN anchor Don Lemon filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk on Thursday, months after a partnership with the X social media platform was scrapped claiming the X owner unfairly terminated their deal, refused to pay him and used the media personality's name to attract advertisers.

The lawsuit was filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco, a legal filing showed.

X canceled its partnership with Lemon in March after he said Musk would be his first guest in an interview.

"His approach was basically just 'CNN, but on social media', which doesn't work," Musk later said in a post on the platform, adding that Lemon was welcome to build viewership on the platform.

Lemon, a popular prime-time personality, was fired from CNN in April last year after 17 years at the cable television network following a short tenure as morning show co-host.

X, formerly Twitter, has struggled to retain advertisers amid a series of controversies ever since the billionaire bought the company in 2022.

The platform in January signed Lemon, former U.S. congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and sports radio host Jim Rome, part of an effort to grow video content on the site and bring advertisers back to its platform.

The lawsuit claimed that X agreed to pay Lemon at least $1.5 million with additional payments as incentives and a part of the advertising revenue.

"This case is straightforward. X executives used Don to prop up their advertising sales pitch, then canceled their partnership and dragged Don's name through the mud," said Lemon's attorney, Carney Shegerian.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Benglauru, Ismail Shakil in Ottawa and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Editing by Maju Samuel)