Kara Swisher says Elon Musk was 'bored' and 'irritated' by Don Lemon interview in brutal critique of the former CNN anchor's disastrous sit-down, in second episode of his new X show

It's a been a tough couple of weeks for Don Lemon. 

Last week his deal with X was pulled after a car-wreck interview with platform owner Elon Musk.

And now, Lemon's friend, business and tech journalist Kara Swisher, 61, who has interviewed Musk many times, has weighed in to say that the 52-year-old SpaceX boss was clearly 'bored' by his interaction with the former CNN anchor.

Swisher gave her damning assessment when she appeared on the second episode of The Don Lemon Show, now streaming on X.

Speaking to a visibly perturbed Lemon, 58, she said: 'He's easily bored…He was bored. So he got irritated that he had to play word games with you and then he got irritated that he had to pay you.

'And then he thought: 'Why am I paying this guy for this b******t.'

Kara Swisher appeared on the second episode of Don Lemon's new show on X where she weighed in on his train wreck interview with Elon Musk

The tech journalist did not mince words, telling Lemon that Musk was 'was bored and 'got irritated that he had to play word games' with the former CNN anchor during the interview

Lemon's partnership with X was canceled after the one-on-one sit down, with Musk calling the anchor, 'dull' and 'underwhelming'

Adding insult to injury she told Lemon: 'He wasn't listening to any of your points of view by the way. Any time you were making a point he was ignoring you, looking away.'

Earlier this week DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that the real reason that Lemon's partnership with X was over before it began was Lemon's outlandish demands for control and censorship of all news content, talent, and policy on the platform.

Lemon accused Musk of reneging on his commitment to free speech – though he has not been banned from the platform and instead simply won't benefit from the $10million marketing budget that he was demanding they supply to push his show.

And days after his controversial interview with Musk drew more than a million views, DailyMail.com has learned that his current episode has struggled to reach more than hundred thousand views after two days of streaming and despite relying heavily on material from that first talk.

Lemon claims that he's being 'shadow banned' and his material is being 'suppressed' even though it is readily available and streaming on X.

But if he was looking for a sympathetic ear in his friend Swisher, Lemon didn't find one. 

Asked if she had any advice for him in his new gig, Swisher didn't sugar coat it saying: 'I think [this] is going to be really hard for you honestly. You've come from an industry, speaking of licking you up and down, where it's a very different environment for anchors.

In the wide-ranging grilling - which at times sounded more like a deposition than an interview - Lemon took issue with the Tesla CEO's stance on woke ideology, racism, trans rights and drug use

Musk later said he opted against moving forward with the partnership because Lemon's show turned out to be 'basically just CNN, but on social media

'You get really well paid, everything is brought to you and producers really run the show, even if you're very involved, so you have a lot of help.'

Cut loose by CNN and without the backup of X's significant budget Lemon today is very much on his own. 

Swisher said: 'Everything you do has to be about you and your energy and motivation.'

And if he's relying on Swisher to help boost viewership Lemon will be disappointed as the journalist who has 1.5million followers notably did not repost the episode to her own account.

Sources close to the deal that collapsed between X and Lemon last week noted that the former anchor had come to the table with his 'CNN notion of money and treatment.'

As revealed by DailyMail.com, not only did he want a $5million advance, a Tesla Cybertruck, a $10million marketing budget, and 100 percent of the gross revenue once X had made back their money, he also wanted control and censorship of the platform's news output, talent, and policy.

In fact, aware of Lemon's demands, Musk told him: 'You desperately want censorship. You want it so badly you can taste it.'

Speaking to DailyMail.com the source explained: '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 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.

Swisher is yet to share clips of the episode to her 1.5million followers despite appearing on hte show 

Days after his controversial interview with Musk drew more than a million views, DailyMail.com has learned that his current episode has struggled to reach more than hundred thousand views after two days of streaming

Swisher, 61, a business and tech journalist, and friend of Lemon's, has interviewed Musk many times

'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.'

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.'

An outline of Lemon's original demands obtained by DailyMail.com confirms that, despite earlier denials from his reps they 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 two have since traded barbs online in the week since the show's deal was canned, as Musk branded Lemon a 'pompous fool' while Lemon challenged him to 'actually watch it' 

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.'