Don Lemon was having a great time on Thursday night in Los Angeles, snapping photos with Busta Rhymes and enjoying a concert, only hours before federal agents took him into custody.
Dressed in all white, the former CNN anchor seemed cheerful as he posed with Busta Rhymes at the 2026 Recording Academy Honors, a prelude to the upcoming 68th Annual Grammy Awards, which Lemon will be covering.
“They just gained a new fan,” he captioned the video.
However, early Friday, federal authorities arrested the 59-year-old journalist at a hotel in Los Angeles. Reports indicated he was suspected of participating in protests against ICE, where demonstrators disrupted services at a church in Minnesota two weeks prior, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Lemon’s attorney, Abby Rowell, mentioned in a statement that he was taken into custody while on assignment for the Grammy Awards.
After spending the night in jail, Lemon is set to make his first court appearance on Friday, where details about the charges will be disclosed.
He and several others are accused of breaking into Cities Church in St. Paul on January 18 and disrupting their Sunday services.
Bondi confirmed that aside from Lemon, four additional individuals were arrested in relation to the protests, and three others had already faced charges.
Lemon is scheduled to walk the red carpet at the Grammys, and on Thursday, he engaged with his Instagram followers by asking, “Which artist would you like me to interview?”
The newspaper reached out to the Recording Academy for comments regarding Lemon’s arrest.
