Billionaire Twitter owner Elon Musk has extended an open invitation to left-leaning hosts Rachel Maddow and Don Lemon to follow the lead of ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson and bring their talents to his platform.
"It’d be great to have @maddow, @donlemon & others on the left put their shows on this platform." Musk said in a post pinned to the top of his Twitter account. "No exclusivity or legal docs required! You will receive our full support. The digital town square is for all."
The second episode of Carlson's Twitter show accompanied the tweet. His first episode garnered more than 111 million views as of Friday, and the second had more than 46 million views in less than 24 hours.
Carlson moved to the social media platform after he and Fox reportedly "agreed to part ways" in late April. His attorneys received a letter from his former employer stating that he was in breach of his contract, according to Axios.
"Fox defends its very existence on freedom of speech grounds," Carlson's lawyer, Bryan Freedman, told Axios in a statement. "Now they want to take Tucker Carlson’s right to speak freely away from him because he took to social media to share his thoughts on current events."
Lemon was axed by CNN in late April as well after several controversies and on-air incidents.
"Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years," CNN's then-CEO Chris Licht said in a memo to staff April 25. "We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors."
While Lemon may be more at liberty to take up Musk on his offer, Maddow extended her contract with the network for "several more years" in August 2021, according to The New York Times.
Forbes reported that Twitter has upgraded the platform to handle long-form video uploads lasting two hours and is implementing subscription plans for content creators to monetize their work.
Musk is trying to lure more content creators on the left side of the political spectrum after being tied to the right for hosting Carlson and after holding a Twitter Spaces event for Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, to announce his 2024 presidential bid, according to Forbes.
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