Don Lemon’s comeback show with Elon Musk saw the duo get into a tetchy exchange over his alleged heavy drug use, in a wide-ranging interview that saw them clash over his Twitter habits and relationship with Donald Trump.
The former CNN anchor claimed last week that Musk was ‘so upset’ by the interview that he cancelled their deal to exclusively share the show on X.
When quizzed over his prescription ketamine use, Musk appeared to take offence to Lemon’s questioning and said it is ‘pretty private to ask somebody about a medical prescription.’
The two butted heads several times during the hour-long interview, with Musk appearing annoyed and took long pauses when answering questions on his Twitter jokes and free speech.
Don Lemon has shared the first interview from his comeback show with Elon Musk, where he interrogated the billionaire over his alleged heavy drug use
Musk cancelled his deal with Lemon to exclusively share the show on X after the episode, which the former CNN anchor claimed left the billionaire ‘so upset’
Drug Use
As the topic fell on Musk’s private life, he brushed off claims he is a heavy partier and seemed to try and direct the conversation back towards his work.
‘I think anyone who smokes pot can tell I don’t know how to smoke pot,’ he said, adding his infamous toke on the Joe Rogan podcast in 2018 was just ‘one puff.’
Musk has previously hailed the benefits of ketamine use for treating depression, and told Lemon that those that are struggling with depression should ‘talk to their doctor about ketamine instead of SSRI’s.’
‘There are times when I have a negative chemical state in my brain, like depression I guess, or depression that’s not linked to any negative news, and ketamine is helpful for getting one out of a negative frame of mind,’ he added.
When asked if he has ever ‘abused’ the tranquilizing drug, Musk continued: ‘I don’t think so… if you use too much ketamine you can’t really get work done, and I have a lot of work.’
‘It’s a prescription from a real doctor, not a, you know…’ he added, as the conversation stalled and became awkward.
‘Putting in 16-hour days, that’s normal for me, and it’s rare for me to even take off a weekend day, so I don’t really have a situation where I can be not mentally acute for an extended period of time.
‘I can’t really get wasted.’
Musk noted that he will take a ‘small amount’ of ketamine every other week on average, and often ‘there will be several weeks go by that I don’t use it.’
Musk said that his infamous weed smoking on the Joe Rogan was just ‘one puff’, and ‘anyone who smokes pot can tell I don’t know how to smoke pot’
Cancelled show
The show’s release on Monday comes a week after Lemon’s comeback was rocked before the interview was ever published, as he claimed Musk axed their deal in response to the interview.
On X, Musk countered that he decided to end his partnership with the show after finding Lemon’s approach was ‘basically just CNN, but on social media.’
‘And, instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity,’ he said, referencing Lemon’s ex-CNN boss.
A source added to the New York Post that Musk was ‘underwhelmed’ at the end of the interview, and canned it after ‘realizing how bad it was.’
The two have since traded barbs online in the week since, as Musk branded Lemon a ‘pompous fool’ while Lemon challenged him to ‘actually watch it.’
Much of the interview centered on Lemon asking Musk about his private life and allegations that have been made against him, including at one point directly asking him: ‘Do you suffer from depression?’
‘I ask as someone who has suffered from depression,’ Lemon said in an attempt to qualify the question.
‘I wouldn’t say that I have a case of extended depression, it’s just once in a while I get into a negative chemical mind state,’ Musk responded.
The two have since traded barbs online in the week since the show’s deal was canned, as Musk branded Lemon a ‘pompous fool’ while Lemon challenged him to ‘actually watch it’
When the interview turned to Musk’s relationship with Donald Trump, he brushed off implications that the two of them are close
Relationship with Donald Trump
Earlier in the show, Lemon asked Musk about his relationship with Donald Trump, as the billionaire has frequently shared right-wing jokes and comments online that have linked him to the former president’s run for the White House.
Lemon referenced a recent meeting between Musk and Trump in Florida, which the billionaire brushed off as a chance encounter rather than a scheduled meeting.
‘I was at a breakfast at a friend’s place, and Donald Trump came by, that’s it,’ he said.
When asked what the two of them discussed, Musk paused and laughed, appearing to flounder for an answer for several seconds.
‘He did most of the talking,’ he said with a laugh.
‘Of all the things he said, there wasn’t really anything groundbreaking or new. But he, you know… President Trump likes to talk.’
When the meeting was revealed, it sparked rumors that Musk could put his huge fortune behind the former president. However, he quickly denied he had any plans to do so.
‘While I’ll voice my opinion (on the presidential race), I think I don’t want to put my thumb on the scale voluntarily.’
Musk responded with a blunt ‘no’ to several questions on the topic, including whether he plans to help Trump pay for his mounting legal bills.
Musk responded with a quick ‘no’ when asked if he plans to help fund Trump (pictured together in 2016 with Steve Bannon), and said he doesn’t ‘want to put (his) thumb on the scale’
Racism
Musk has courted controversy since buying Twitter, now X, in April 2022, and has used it as a platform to take on ‘woke’ issues including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in corporate America.
He argued that ‘trying to make everything a race issue is divisive or corrosive to society’, and felt that race is given too much importance in the minds of many.
‘I think we should not make this a constant subject I think we need to move on. I think we need to treat people as people,’ he continued.
‘But I think we want to look to the future rather than the past. Because if you look at history everyone was a slave. We are all descended from slaves, it’s just a question of whether it was less recently or more recently.’
Musk argued that DEI lowers standards, using the example of surgeons to claim that if they received their job through DEI, they may be more likely to make a medical mistake.
Lemon then interrupted that there was ‘no evidence of that’, leading to a tense moment as Musk repeated, ‘I think there is’ while Lemon insisted there wasn’t.
‘They literally lowered the standards at Duke University… are you saying they didn’t?’ Musk said. ‘I believe that is a false statement you’re making.’
Musk grew irate as Lemon repeated that he was citing a ‘hypothetical’ scenario where a surgeon kills a patient as a result of DEI, angrily responding: ‘I didn’t say it was happening, I said it will!’
The interview also fell on Musk’s past comments on transgender rights. His daughter Vivian, formerly Xavier (far right, seen as a six-year-old in 2010), came out as transgender several years ago, and has said she no longer wants to be ‘related to (Musk) in any way, shape or form’
Trans Rights
Lemon also took aim at Musk’s past remarks on trans rights, bringing up an old tweet where Musk said that having pronouns in your bio means the ‘woke mind virus ate your brain.’
Musk’s daughter Vivian came out as transgender several years ago, and they appear to be estranged. When she sought a legal name change in 2022 to Vivian Jenna Wilson, she said: ‘I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form.’
The topic of transgender rights has since become a common theme of Musk’s jokes.
‘Do you know what the term woke actually means?’ Lemon asked.
Musk countered that the term has ‘come to mean a lot of things’, to which Lemon cut him off by noting the original meaning was to have an understanding of ‘inequities in society.’