The former CNN anchor was arrested by federal agents on Jan. 29 after covering a protest inside a Minnesota church.

Don Lemon gets standing ovation at Grammys party after arrest

The former CNN anchor was arrested by federal agents on Jan. 29 after covering a protest inside a Minnesota church.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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February 2, 2026 12:04 a.m. ET

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Don Lemon at the Recording Academy and Clive Davis' Salute To Industry Icons pre-Grammy gala at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 31, 2026. Credit:

Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty

Don Lemon was given a hero's welcome at a pre-Grammys party after being arrested while documenting an anti-ICE protest.

The former CNN anchor attended super producer Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammys party on Saturday, held this year at the Beverly Hills Hilton in Los Angeles. The bash was attended by some of music's best and brightest, from Joni Mitchell and Lana Del Rey to Gladys Knight and Max Martin. But it was a non-musician who got the audience on their feet, applauding with admiration.

Don Lemon received a standing ovation from the crowd, just two days after he was arrested on federal charges related to his reporting on an protest that took place inside a St. Paul, Minn., church on Jan. 18. Congressional representative and former Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who was also in attendance, told Lemon he was the new face of the First Amendment, per Page Six.

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Lemon was arrested by federal agents on Thursday night after a grand jury indicted him on two charges: conspiring to violate someone's constitutional rights, and violating the FACE Act, which protects expressions of the First Amendment right to practice religion from forceful or threatening interference.******

The charges stem from Lemon's presence at a Jan. 18 protest at St. Paul's Cities Church, where local activists convened to express their criticism of pastor David Easterwood, whom they linked to a David Easterwood listed as the field director of a local Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.

The federal agency, inaugurated in 2003 in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, has come under intense scrutiny for its aggressive, weeks-long raids conducted across Minneapolis, which have resulted in the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent, and the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by two Customs and Border Patrol agents.**

Journalist Don Lemon departs federal court on Jan. 30, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif.

Mario Tama/Getty

Though a federal magistrate judge blocked a final attempt to charge Lemon in connection with the protest, which he covered as an independent journalist for his YouTube channel, Attorney General Pam Bondi pressed on, implicating him in the organization and execution of the protest itself.

Lemon was fired from CNN in 2023 after a *Variety *report documented his alleged history of sexist behavior while employed by the news network. While covering the Jan. 18 protest, Lemon noted, "I'm just here photographing, I'm not part of the group. I'm a journalist."

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