Don Lemon wanted to ride Elon Musk's rocket to do first podcast in space: source

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by Ariel Zilber

He's a real space cadet!

Don Lemon submitted a wish list during contract negotiations with Company X, including a request for a free Cybertruck, before he was unceremoniously fired last week, but SpaceX President Elon Musk also , wanted him in orbit for the first-ever extraterrestrial podcast, the Post reported. Have learned.

The bullet point reads, “Space's first podcast hosted by Don (via SpaceX).”

The literally out-of-this-world request was laid out in a letter sent to Musk's social media sites by Lemon's representatives at United Talent Agency, which included a base salary of $8 million plus It also included a $5 million upfront payment, company stock and other demands. As The Post exclusively reported last week, it has vetoed the site's news content policy and creator directory.

The document reviewed by the Post was sent in December, a month before Musk and Lemon announced they would partner with the fired CNN anchor to host the X show.

A representative for Mr. Lemon did not respond to a request for comment.

Company X executives were also surprised when Mr. Lemon requested a private jet to fly him and his partner to Las Vegas to attend a technology conference. The company paid for his flight and stay in a luxury hotel suite on the Strip. A person close to the situation said.

Last week, Lemon's representatives categorically denied that their client had made such a request.

“This is complete nonsense and there is not a grain of truth in it,” UTA Vice President Jay Schurs told the Post.

Lemon spokeswoman Allison Gollust also tried to shoot down the report.

“There is nothing true in the list of demands that you claim Don made from X. There is literally nothing,” she said.

X declined to comment.

SpaceX, along with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, are charging millions of dollars to send daring tourists to the edge of space. A seat on one of the early Blue Origin suborbital flights once fetched $28 million.

A quick glance at SpaceX's website shows that flights through the company's “rideshare program” cost at least $300,000. The cost also increases depending on the payload carried.

Musk fired Lemon last week after recording a testy interview on March 8, before his debut episode aired. Lemon harshly criticized the tech mogul for his political views, drug use reports and content moderation policies.

Lemon posted the full interview with Musk online on Monday, but snippets of it were leaked last week after Musk ended talks about a revenue-sharing sponsorship deal he had touted earlier this year.

In response to Musk's move, Lemon accused Musk of violating his promise to allow free speech on X.

However, Musk found Lemon “dull” and “underwhelming” and pulled the plug. He's not willing to settle for Lemon's “approach,” which is “basically just 'CNN but on social media,'” he added.