Don Lemon demanded Elon Musk send him to SPACE for the first podcast from a rocket as well as wanting a free Tesla cybertruck and $5M upfront to host X show that he'd have full control over

Don Lemon didn't just want a partnership with X, he wanted to run the show with a series of outlandish demands that he would control and censor news content and talent across the entire platform, DailyMail.com can reveal.

Last week Lemon, 58, was unceremoniously offloaded from talks for a partnership with the social media platform following a car-wreck interview with SpaceX founder Elon Musk, 52.

Now, DailyMail.com can reveal that the real reason Musk pulled the plug on the deal was his belief that Lemon, 'wants censorship so badly [he] can taste it.'

For his part Lemon has claimed that he was canned because Musk reneged on his 'free speech' pledge. But according to one source familiar with the deal it was Lemon who wanted to curb free speech.

Last week Elon Musk cut ties with Don Lemon after they were in talks for Lemon to have his own show on X, formerly known as Twitter 

Musk reneged on the multimillion-dollar deal hours after their sit-down interview, where Lemon asked him about hate speech on Twitter and his drug use

The source said, 'If you look through Don's asks they fluctuate between the luxurious, to the far-out, to censorship.

'Luxurious is you're asking for a splashy new car [the Tesla Cybertruck] and you're asking for a $5million up-front payment.

'Far-out is one of his demands was to be the first podcast in space.'

DailyMail.com has seen paperwork outlining Lemon's original demands. It confirms that, despite earlier denials from Lemon's representatives, those demands included a $5million advance, a $10million annual marketing commitment from X, to be the first podcast to broadcast from space and to be given a Tesla Cybertruck.

The source went on, 'Where it flips to censorship is Don wanted control and input on every creator that was coming to the platform.

'He wanted a voice into what type of news information would be on the platform.

'Separately he wanted to make decisions about the policies of the platform.'

The demands state that Lemon must be consulted by X 'when making decisions relating to News content on platform/any policy changes re: content;' that he receive 'percent of budget upon X's future spend on original content' and, breathtakingly, 'Don to approve any other news/current events talent deals/partnerships in the first year on X.'

Musk shared his thoughts after Lemon dished on their tense relationship during Friday's episode of The View 

DailyMail.com has seen paperwork outlining Lemon's original demands, which included a Tesla Cybertruck 

Lemon claimed that he was canned because Musk reneged on his 'free speech' pledge - but a source says that it was Lemon who wanted to control the content 

The source explained, 'So, they've got these demands and they're working through them, but nothing's been signed. Then he sits down with Elon and Elon's like, 'I see where you're going and I don't like it.'

That moment came during the debut episode of The Don Lemon show when Lemon pushed his putative boss on his refusal to take down content that the broadcaster described as, 'hate speech,' and slammed Musk for not employing 'better content moderation.'

Musk responded that X deletes anything illegal but never goes further than the letter of the law. He told Lemon, 'Moderation is a propaganda word for censorship.'

Clearly frustrated he went on, 'You desperately want censorship. You want censorship so badly you can taste it.'

At that point, the source told DailyMail.com, 'It's like, based on the demands and based on this interview and on how it all feels they're no longer going to stand in a conversation with Don.'

The rug was pulled.

Lemon was fired hours after the one-on-one sit down with Musk calling the anchor, 'dull' and 'underwhelming.'

The one-and-a-half hour grilling included tense exchanges about Musk's political leanings, his prescription use of ketamine, meeting with Trump and so-called promotion of the Great Replacement Theory.

The source added, 'Was Elon frustrated? Yes. Did Don show his cards? Yes.'

Musk went on to write on X, 'Even though I think Don (lemon emoji) is a pompous fool who spouts nonsense, he is still free to upload his show to X and will receive advertising revenue.' 

The Don Lemon Show first interview that was on X maintains higher views than YouTube -- as of 5 p.m. it was 1.5M impressions/view on X versus 540K on YouTube.

When approached for comment a spokesperson for X said, ‘X can not comment on any terms that were discussed between Don Lemon and X. Please know this was no final agreement between the Don Lemon Show and X.’ 

Lemon went on The View Friday where he revealed he was able to glean some more information about Musk's relationship with Trump 

Lemon went on The View Friday where he revealed he was able to glean some more information about Musk's relationship with Trump which has been in the spotlight following reports the two billionaires had met.

'Did he show his hand on whether he would support Trump?' Host Alyssa Griffin asked.

'He did talk about the meeting, why he went down, the context and the venue were in and he did talk to me about what the former president did have to say,' Lemon replied.

Musk met with Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, fueling speculation he could be about to provide a much-needed cash injection into the presidential hopeful's campaign. 

Scant details have been released about the meeting, although Musk publicly came out to deny he would be endorsing any candidate shortly after.

In one clip played on The View, Lemon asked Musk about X users and hate speech including the 'great replacement theory' which Musk himself has amplified.

The 'Great Replacement Theory' preaches that white European populations are being demographically and culturally replaced by non-white peoples - especially from Muslim countries.

But the billionaire was unimpressed and refused to answer the question directly, telling Lemon he did not have to agree to the interview.

'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. I'm criticized constantly I could care less,' Musk said.