There appeared to be a new chapter in the saga of investigative reporter Catherine Herridge, on Wednesday, regarding her next landing spot. According to The New York Post, the award-winning journalist was in talks with Elon Musk’s social media platform, X. The news came not long after Musk soured on former CNN host Don Lemon and cut off their business arraignment following a contentious and rude interview.
The Post’s Alexandra Steigrad reported that Herridge “met with X CEO Linda Yaccarino at The Jefferson Hotel in Washington, DC earlier this month, according to a source with knowledge.”
She also noted that the talks were very much in the early stages, but there seemed to be interest in her building out a major investigative unit:
The talks have been described as “preliminary.” A potential deal could see Herridge — known for her aggressive reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop scandal — helm an investigative unit that she could help put together, according to a source close to the situation.
“We are in discussions with many content creators who are interested in joining X in various ways. Catherine Herridge is a great journalist who strongly supports free speech,” X said in a statement, declining to comment further.
In February, a Washington D.C.-based federal district court found her in contempt for refusing to disclose the name of a source central to a defamation suit.
Last year, Musk offered to take up the cases and fund law suits against woke companies that targeted employees for what they posted on the site. Now, the case against Herridge did involve her past reporting with Fox News, and the network was also covering her legal fees in the case. But perhaps X also saw an opportunity with Herridge to double down on their support for the First Amendment and support real journalism.
An anonymous source told The Post “that the Herridge had run into ‘internal roadblocks’ on her reporting of Biden’s laptop from top brass at CBS.” Which could have played a role in her ultimately being fired during a wave of mass playoffs at the third-place broadcast network that had been described as a “bloodbath.”
But, as The Post noted: “joining X could give the journalist freedom to pursue a variety of stories” she otherwise couldn’t if she remained at CBS or a major news outlet.
