Don Ramon releases ‘no-nothings-tampered’ interview with Musk – Wall Street Journal

2024-03-19 04:05:00

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon has released the contents of his interview with Tesla CEO and X boss Elon Musk, claiming that the interview led to the billionaire’s The rich man canceled his contract with X and said he did not know what was wrong.

The two discussed Musk’s drug use, views on content moderation and plans for X. Before cutting into the pre-recorded interview, Lemon said in the opening remarks of the first episode of “The Don Lemon Show” that this interview can be said to have no restrictions.

“I challenge you, Elon, to watch the entire interview and tell the world why this is not what you claim to want on X,” Raymond said.

“After months of begging me to provide some exclusive content on his platform, Musk finally decided to cancel the deal,” Raymond said in the show, which was released Monday morning.

In January this year, X announced that it would launch a show hosted by Raymond. Raymond said his plan has always been to get the show out on as many platforms as possible. He posted the more than hour-long interview on YouTube, Spotify and X. Raymond said the episode failed to load at the time, so it was uploaded to Channel X about 45 minutes later than originally planned.

Raymond said last week that Musk told him his agreement with X was canceled hours after their interview. Musk issued a statement last week on

A spokesman for X did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

This interview was recorded at Tesla headquarters in Austin, Texas. Musk denied in the interview that his posting of controversial content on X was an abuse of ketamine and that he was under the influence of the drug.

Musk responded: “I don’t drink, I really don’t.”

Musk said he only uses ketamine under the guidance of a doctor to help treat depression.

“I really can’t get drunk because then I won’t be able to do my job,” he said.

The Wall Street Journal reported in January that Musk’s use of illegal drugs including LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, magic mushrooms and ketamine worried executives at Tesla and SpaceX.

“From a Wall Street perspective, it’s execution,” Musk said. “From an investor’s perspective, if I’m taking a drug, I should continue to use it.”

In another conversation, Musk said he himself hopes to expand the role of X to become a real-time source of information that provides different perspectives. This sparked a debate about Raymond’s political leanings. Musk said to Raymond: “I feel like you’re a little left of center, I don’t know, tell me.”

“Then have you seen my program on CNN?” Raymond asked.

“I’ve seen some clips,” Musk said.

Raymond asked Musk what he thought about people saying that X had become a platform for promoting conservative conspiracy theories. “The original Twitter was fundamentally a tool of the far left,” Musk said.

Musk acquired the company formerly known as Twitter in 2022. He often posts on X, even late at night. Some of his posts, including one that was anti-Semitic, have turned away some advertisers. Musk didn’t seem keen on winning back those customers during the interview, saying, “If they’re going to force a review of our company before they advertise, then obviously I don’t think that’s acceptable.”

Raymond asked Musk if he believed X had a responsibility to moderate hate speech on the platform.

“I think we have a responsibility to follow the law,” Musk said. “I think once you start going beyond the law, you’re going to try to manipulate the outcome, and we don’t want to do that.”

“So what you’re saying is you like censorship,” Musk told Raymond during a nine-minute exchange between the two about content moderation.

“No, I don’t like censorship,” Raymond said.

“Then why do you ask?” Musk said.

X has tried to offer more videos and long-form content on its platform. In January, the company announced the launch of a show hosted by Raymond, along with shows by former Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and sports commentator Jim Rome. Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson also posts videos and interviews on X.

Asked about his recent meeting with Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, Musk denied that the former president had asked him to donate. Musk said he has no plans to endorse candidates until the election enters its final stages.

Towards the end of the interview, Musk did not discuss the origins of his strong personality, instead referring to a recently published biography of him.

“There’s a room full of people waiting to meet me, okay?” Musk said.

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