By Brian Steinberg

Don Lemon appears to have a sweet new deal with social-media giant X.

The former CNN anchor, who parted ways with the Warner Bros. Discovery-backed news outlet last year after he was moved to duties on its morning program, said Tuesday that he had launched a new media company and would be debuting a new program via X.

The new program, “The Don Lemon Show,” will allow him to be “bigger, bolder, freer,” Lemon said in a posting. The show “will be available to everyone, easily, whenever and wherever you want it, streaming on the platforms where conversations are happening. And you’ll find it first on X, the biggest space for free speech in the world. I know now more than ever that we need a place for honest debate and discussion without the hall monitors. This is just the beginning so stay tuned.” Lemon did not respond immediately to a text seeking further comment.

Lemon has long desired to deliver more outspoken commentary, and has made no secret of his ambitions. “I would like it to be a little bit looser. I would love it to be like HBO. I would love to be able to say those things you never say on basic cable. I would love to be able to have those conversations the way Bill Maher does,” he told Variety of his late-prime CNN program during a 2016 interview. In 2022, CNN unveiled plans for Lemon to host a weekly talk show with a live in-studio audience for CNN+, the subscription-based streaming video service that was scuttled within days of it launch by the news outlet’s corporate parent.

Read more: https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/don-lemon-x-talk-show-cnn-1235866266/