Don Lemon Announces He's Launching New Show on X

1. KSKara Swisher0:00

   Don Lemon is back and he says he's bigger, bolder, freer. He was pretty free. Lemon announced this week that he's starting a new show that will stream exclusively first on X. So it's a podcast that's gonna be first on X-

2. SGScott Galloway0:13

   Mm-hmm.

3. KSKara Swisher0:14

   ... I guess, which, uh, you know, they've been, uh, Linda's been going around. I knew a lot about this because I talked to Don about it, uh, quite a bit. I had other suggestions for him. I suggested he do a deal with Ben Shapiro or m- do the Megyn Kelly route. I didn't think this was a good idea, so that, that's just full disclosure. Um, and I told him so, and I said, "You know, get the money up front. Um, uh, I just don't think it's gonna go well for you on this platform." Uh, but, uh, but he d- he did it. Uh, he, uh, he's other things he's doing, you know, he's... But he also called X "the biggest space for free speech in the world." Um, I think, uh, it was also Tulsi Gabbard and sports commentator Jim Rome are doing video partnerships. Obviously, Tucker Carlson's been there, but then moved to his own subscription-based platform. Um, Scott, what do you think? I, I said he shouldn't do it. I thought there were lots of other choices. And again, if I'm recommending Ben Shapiro, who I, who I think is abhorrent in many ways, but he's quite a good media executive, that's the kind of outfit I thought he should have affiliate, you know, to, to create a great media property.

4. SGScott Galloway1:19

   I, I think you're right. Um, so first off, I think, I think Don is a, is a real talent, and I think he's unafraid, he connects with people, he's really handsome, which I think is incredibly important in media. Um, not as important in podcasting. But if I were him, I would've just started with a podcast with a Vox or, you know, Daily, you know, whatever it's called, Daily Wire, and developed a following there because X sort of creates a halo that, okay, congratulations, you're now, you know, on the same platform as Alex Jones, and the guy who runs it is just sort of reckless and strange. And I don't... This reminds me a little bit of when Yahoo did a big deal with Katie Couric. It just, it's not-

5. KSKara Swisher2:05

   Yes, I broke all those stories.

6. SGScott Galloway2:07

   ... it's not-

7. KSKara Swisher2:07

   Mm-hmm.

8. SGScott Galloway2:07

   I, I don't... This is not what I would have done if I was Don. Uh, if I were Don, I would have figured out an outlet where I could still have a 30 or 60-minute show because, uh, he has a face for television (laughs) and, uh, I do think him in TV is still, uh, he would still do well even if he had to go to a "second tier" network, and he should have done a great podcast. To kind of announce this, it's, it's, it's not just Don Lemon and the, what the topic is he gonna talk about, it's Don Lemon and X, and X, in my view, is a bad umbrella brand.

9. KSKara Swisher2:41

   Mm-hmm.

10. SGScott Galloway2:41

    Uh, but on the whole, he's a big talent, and the thing that I do like about this, uh, is that he is doing something. The key for all of these folks, and I, I, I've spoken to a lot of them recently as they're all trying to figure out their third-

11. KSKara Swisher2:55

    (laughs)

12. SGScott Galloway2:55

    ... or fourth act, is don't-

13. KSKara Swisher2:57

    Mm-hmm.

14. SGScott Galloway2:57

    ... let perfect be the enemy of good, and that is just get onto the next thing and iterate. And-

15. KSKara Swisher3:02

    Yeah.

16. SGScott Galloway3:03

    ... s- most of them don't. Most of them-

17. KSKara Swisher3:05

    Well, they're used to a different world because they're used to being-

18. SGScott Galloway3:08

    That's right.

19. KSKara Swisher3:08

    ... coddled in the whole network system, right? You know, um, uh, in Katie's case, I, I actually did break that story. That's how I got to know Katie-

20. SGScott Galloway3:17

    Mm-hmm.

21. KSKara Swisher3:17

    ... from that story. Um, she got a ton of money up front-

22. SGScott Galloway3:20

    Mm-hmm.

23. KSKara Swisher3:20

    ... but then they buried her inside of Yahoo, never was on the front page of a whole bunch of things-

24. SGScott Galloway3:23

    Well, she only got 1% of what-

25. KSKara Swisher3:25

    ... that happened. She actually did some very good-

26. SGScott Galloway3:25

    ... Marissa Mayer paid for Tumblr, who was obviously the, uh, arguably one of the worst CEOs in the history of tech.

27. KSKara Swisher3:30

    Tru-

28. SGScott Galloway3:30

    But...

29. KSKara Swisher3:30

    True. I, I, I think they paid Don a pile of money. I know they did, pile of money, up front-

30. SGScott Galloway3:35

    X paid Don Lemon?

Episode duration: 14:38