Former
CNN anchor Don Lemon's interview with multihyphenate billionaire — and, at the time, his boss —
Elon Musk finally aired on Monday, allowing a better glimpse at the possible reasons why the X-formerly-Twitter owner may have canceled the former's show on the platform. Musk abruptly canceled Lemon's show following the interview, leading to widespread speculation about the billionaire's motives. One possible reason : Lemon asked probing questions about Musk's drug use. We'd previously gotten only peeks at the conversation, but this morning's full episode of the "Don Lemon Show " finally lays it all on the table. During the hour-long interview, Musk doubled down on his use of ketamine, a potentially hallucinogenic anesthetic that has been used as a treatment for depression. "What matters is execution," Musk told Lemon. "Tesla is worth more than the rest of the rest of the car industry combined. From nothing, that's pretty good." "From an investor standpoint, if there is something I’m taking, we should keep taking it," he added, arguing that his ketamine use was in Tesla's best interest. Of course, what he didn't mention is the fact that the EV maker is absolutely tanking right now and has been the worst-performing stock on the S&P 500 for months. The conversation became noticeably tense when Lemon broached the topic of drugs. "You know, I think it's pretty private to ask somebody about a medical prescription," Musk told Lemon immediately after he brought up the topic of ketamine. "There are times when I have sort of, uh... " he said, trailing off, "a negative chemical state in my brain, like depression, I guess." "Ketamine is useful for getting one out of a negative frame of mind," Musk told Lemon, arguing that his depression, or "chemical tides," wasn't linked to any "negative news." In the interview, Musk claimed he had a "real" prescription from a "real doctor." "Do you feel like you ever abuse it?" Lemon asked. "I don't think so," Musk answered, saying that he worked too much to ever have time to be "wasted." It's an interesting new wrinkle in the conversation surrounding the mercurial CEO's drug use. In January, the Wall Street Journal released a damning report about his reported "illegal drug" use, allegedly ranging from cocaine to LSD, which apparently had leaders at both
Tesla and
SpaceX worried. According to the report, Musk took ketamine recreationally, and not just under the supervision of health professionals, as he seemed to be suggesting in his interview with Lemon. Ever since the WSJ story, the question of whether Musk's drug use is impacting or has impacted his work at his many companies has been a hotly debated subject. As is common with Musk, we're left with more questions than answers. What about the other "illegal drugs" the WSJ mentioned in its report? Is Musk dancing around the use of other drugs? Musk has maintained that he never failed any drug tests, especially at SpaceX, where he holds several government contracts.
NASA confirmed this in a previous statement to Futurism . "Whatever I’m doing, I should obviously keep doing it!" Musk tweeted in January, arguing that Tesla and SpaceX had become tremendously valuable. But by abruptly canceling Lemon's show on X, Musk may have drawn even more attention to his reported drug habits. Did he renege on the contract to draw attention away from the conversation, or was it simply a matter of Musk resenting the hard-hitting questions? Little love has been lost between the two since the falling out, with Musk lashing out with personal insults. In a Friday tweet , Musk called Lemon a "pompous fool who spouts nonsense." More on Musk: Video Shows Elon Musk Confronted About Drug Use