Ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon announced Wednesday he would no longer post on X, citing the platform’s incoming updated terms of service as part of his reason.
Following his firing from CNN in April 2023, Lemon sought to create his own show on X and YouTube, in the same vein that commentator and ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson did. However, his venture in pursuing a show on X is being dropped, claiming it is “time for me to leave the platform.”
“I once believed that it was a place for honest debate and discussion, transparency, and free speech, but I now feel it does not serve that purpose,” Lemon said in a video posted to X.
Here’s why I’m leaving Twitter… pic.twitter.com/VIope68L2k
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) November 13, 2024
Lemon also cited the updated terms of service that X is implementing Friday, which will require all legal disputes to be “brought exclusively in the U.S. district court for the Northern district of Texas or state courts located in Tarrant County, Texas.” The commentator cited a report that said this update will ensure that lawsuits are heard “in courthouses that are a hub for conservatives.”
In August, Lemon sued X and its owner, Elon Musk, over the scrapped deal that had been broken off following Lemon’s interview with Musk in March. The lawsuit says Musk and X convinced Lemon to make a heavy financial investment to start an online show “through false promises and representations.”
Many users on social media were largely unbothered by Lemon’s announcement to leave X, with the Washington Examiner’s Conn Carroll posting an image of President-elect Donald Trump waving outside a McDonald’s drive-thru. Republican activist Robby Starbuck also joked that Lemon would return to X within a month.
https://t.co/jwGeOkdwdt pic.twitter.com/DN3cwwjASk
— Conn Carroll (@conncarroll) November 13, 2024
I give it one month before you can’t help yourself and come back on here.
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) November 13, 2024
Lmao Don Lemon announces his exit from 𝕏
Why do people feel the need to do this?
Just go.
So dramatic.
— ALX
(@alx) November 13, 2024
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Lemon’s announcement was made on the same day The Guardian announced that it would no longer post on X.
In the wake of the 2024 election, BlueSky, an alternative social media platform to X, has received over a million new users.