WASHINGTON — Elon Musk suggested his use of drugs benefits Tesla investors in an interview released Monday, saying he takes prescribed ketamine to treat his "negative frame of mind."
The 52-year-old tycoon confirmed he takes the anesthetic — typically used for pain management and to treat depression -- following reports in the US media that his drug use was spooking investors.
“Ketamine is helpful for getting one outside out of a negative frame of mind," Musk told former CNN host Don Lemon in an interview published on social media on Monday.
Former CNN anchor Don Lemon went back to CNN, the network where he worked for 17 years, to play some teaser clips from his sit-down with tech titan Elon Musk shortly after learning that his distribution deal with Twitter/X was canceled.
"I took Elon Musk, I took X, I took their management at their word because they pursued me so hard that they were going to put me on their platform and give me as much assistance and support as they promised," he said during an appearance on CNN's "Out Front" with Erin Burnett. "And they did not do that."
The clearest reason Lemon believes that his deal, inked in anticipation of his March 18 debut of "the Don Lemon Show," was squashed, came after their tense interview.
The clips Lemon presented showed Musk espousing an off-putting tone on a variety of topics including hate speech exploding on the platform, his skeptical views about Black airline pilots, and his claims that he has a clear record on drugs.
In one exchange, Lemon asks Musk about the hate speech on the platform he bought for $44 billion.
"Do you believe that X and you have some responsibility to moderate hate speech on the platform that you wouldn't have to answer these questions from reporters about the great replacement theory as it released. I don't have to answer this great replacement theory as it relates to Jewish people. Do you think that?"
And Musk daggered back: "I don't have to answer questions from reporters? Don, the only reason I'm doing this interview is because you're on the X platform and you asked for it. Otherwise, I would not do this interview."
At one point Lemon probed Musk about his penchant for ketamine.
"The reason I talk about my ketamine prescription on the X platform was because I thought 'Maybe this something that can help other people,'" he said. "That's why I mention it."
As far as Trump's presidency and their meeting together, Musk was curt.
When pressed if he was offering to bankroll Trump's legal bills, Musk said, "I'm not paying his legal bills in any way shape or form."
As far as who Musk will back in the 2024 presidential race: Musk answered he hadn't decided with a simple, "No."
Musk responded in a post on his platform that “instead of it being the real Don Lemon, it was really just Jeff Zucker talking through Don, so lacked authenticity. All this said, Lemon/Zucker are of course welcome to build their viewership on this platform along with everyone else.”
Lemon appears to think that Musk has too much sway.
"Maybe we're learning that the public square should not be privately owned by someone who doesn't think that there should be any moderation on that platform," he said.
CNN anchor Don Lemon's visible outrage over a hung jury in the Michael Dunn trial caught the attention Sunday of Fox News anchor Gregg Jarrett, who lobbed a series of personal attacks over Twitter.
Later, Lemon replied on Twitter "wow, someone is suffering from a bad case of the Michael Dunns. Guess my tv's too loud... Mind ur business old man."
... to which Jarrett responded around 6 p.m. Sunday.
"Old Man"? You're right about that. I was trying cases in front of juries when you were in diapers, Don.
"It shouldn't matter if someone is Black, white, brown, purple, green, Democrat or Republican," Lemon said. "If the truth they speak is saving lives, then no matter their intentions or background, we should listen. Attack the problem, not the messenger."
Simmons, who at one point referred to Lemon as "a slave" on Twitter, accused Lemon in an Aug. 2 post of sounding like his strings were being pulled by Fox News hosts Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity when he said O'Reilly "doesn't go far enough" in his criticisms against African-Americans.
"Conservatives love when we blame ourselves for the conditions that have destroyed the fabric of the black community," Simmons wrote. "I respect your courage on many other issues, but I can't accept that you would single out black teenagers as the cause of their own demise because they don’t speak the King’s English or wear belts around their waistbands."
Lemon -- who stated that Simmons declined multiple invitations for an on-camera discussion before Saturday -- said that criticism made him question whether Simmons watched the original segment or wrote the response.
"I never blamed anyone for their own demise," Lemon insisted. "I never pinned it on any teenagers. Nor did I mention the King's English. I did, however, mention 'the N-word.'"
Following the broadcast, Simmons apologized online for calling Lemon a slave, while adding, "I just think you're promoting the wrong message."
Hip hop activist Jay Smooth ripped into CNN's Don Lemon in video released Thursday, mocking his "f*cking terrible" claim black men could alleviate poverty by avoiding saggy pants. Smooth said Lemon's advice wasn't actually intended to seriously help anyone with their problems, instead the advice implicitly blamed black men for their problems and protected society from the shame of failing to help those in need.
CNN anchor Don Lemon came to the defense of Fox News host Bill O'Reilly on Saturday regarding O'Reilly's heavily-criticized take regarding crime in the African-American community.
"In my estimation, he doesn't go far enough," Lemon said in a commentary, before going on to list five tips for Black Americans to improve their living situation, starting with an entreaty to young African-American men to stop letting their pants sag as a fashion choice.
"Walking around with your a*s and your underwear showing is not okay," Lemon said. "In fact, it comes from prison. When they take away belts from prisoners so they can't make a weapon. And then it evolved into which role each prisoner would have during male-on-male prison sex."
Lemon also advised Black viewers to stop saying "the N-word," to encourage young members of the community to finish their education and to "respect where you live."
"I've lived in several predominantly white communities in my life," Lemon said. "I rarely, if ever, witnessed people littering. I live in Harlem now. It's a historically Black neighborhood. Every single day, I see adults and children dropping their trash on the ground when the garbage can is just feet away. Just being honest here."
Additionally, Lemon cited an oft-mentioned statistic saying 72 percent of African-American children were born out of wedlock. But that figure has been in dispute since as far back as 2009, when columnist Ta-Nehisi Coates pointed out in The Atlantic that the birth rate among Black women was actually declining at the time, and that the birth rate for married Black women was lower than among married white women.
"There is no data to show that the black 'illegitimacy' figure of 70 percent has been caused by unmarried black women having more kids than they did in the past," Coates wrote at the time.
Lemon's remarks were also ripped in a subsequent panel discussion by Global Grind editor-in-chief Michael Skolnick.
"I think your remarks sound like a conserative preacher on a Sunday," Skolnick told Lemon. "Certainly Bill O'Reilly should welcome you on his show. I'm disappointed in you. You're talking about sagging pants? I've heard this rap for years, talking about sagging pants. Let's talk about why we incarcerate 2.2 million people in this country, and why young kids look up to guys who come out of jail."
"Michael, not every Black kid is in jail," Lemon countered. "And there are rules. People should know where that style comes from. Whether it's a Black kid, a white kid, a Black kid, whether it's Justin Bieber. That is glorifying prison culture. Who wants to see someone's butt-crack?"
When Lemon asked Skolnick whether hip-hop culture glorified that aethetic, Skolnick shot back that the music is a reflection of society.
"Don't break the mirror, look at yourself," Skolnick told Lemon.
Lemon was backed up in his argument by conservative radio host Larry Elder, who argued that neither he nor O'Reilly went far enough, blaming the disintegration of the Black nuclear family on then-President Lyndon B. Johnson's "war on poverty" initiatives in 1965.
"We have been giving people incentives to marry the government and allowing men to abandon their moral and financial responsibility," Elder argued.
Lemon's commentary, posted by CNN on Saturday, can be seen below.
CNN helped viewers visualize Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's life in a 10-by-10-foot prison cell by pitching a small party tent outside Federal Medical Center Devens in Massachusetts on Monday.
Throughout the day, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer returned to Don Lemon for live updates from the tent.
"We just happen to have a tent that's 10 by 10," Lemon explained.
The small canopy contained several packing containers with a sheet and a pillow to simulate a prison bed, a small table, yellow tape as walls around the cell and a white piece of cloth representing Tsarnaev's food slot. There was gray box sitting in the corner of the tent where a toilet might be.
"People who are watching are saying if he is guilty, this is probably too big for him," Lemon explained as a loud dump truck throttled by.
Watch this video from CNN's Newsroom, broadcast April 29, 2013.
