Don Lemon was living it up in Los Angeles Thursday night — beaming in photos with Busta Rhymes and dancing at a concert — just hours before he was arrested by federal authorities.
The lefty ex-CNN anchor, decked out in all white, flashed a big smile beside Busta Rhymes as they posed for a picture together at the 2026 Recording Academy Honors ahead of Sunday’s 68th GRAMMY Awards, which Lemon is set to cover this weekend.
Lemon also posted a TikTok Thursday night of himself bopping to a live performance at the Spotify Best New Artist Party by KATSEYE, who are nominated for Best New Artist and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for their hit song “Gabriela.”
“They just gained a new fan,” he wrote in the caption.
Lemon, 59, was arrested by federal authorities at a hotel in Los Angeles early Friday morning for allegedly joining anti-ICE protesters who stormed a Minnesota church during Sunday service two weeks ago, according to his attorney and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards,” Lemon’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement shared with multiple reporters.
The journalist reportedly spent the night in jail and is expected to make a first appearance in court on Friday, where the indictment charges against him will be unsealed.
He and dozens of protesters are accused of barging in and disrupting Sunday services at the Cities Church in St. Paul on Jan. 18.
Pam Bondi confirmed Friday that along with Lemon, four others had been arrested in connection with the demonstration. Three other protesters had previously been charged.
Lemon was due to be on the Red Carpet for the Grammy’s, asking his Instagram followers on Thursday, “Which artist do you want me to interview?”
The Post has reached out to the Recording Academy, which runs the music awards show, for comment on Lemon’s arrest.

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