In a remarkable show of support, Don Lemon received a standing ovation from Hollywood elites at a glamorous pre-Grammy Awards event, held just days after his controversial arrest.

The 59-year-old former CNN anchor was taken into custody on January 29, following his involvement with anti-ICE demonstrators who occupied a Minnesota church earlier this month.

Lemon, maintaining that he was participating in a journalistic capacity, faces federal charges of conspiracy and hindering the First Amendment rights of worshippers.

After a court hearing in Los Angeles, he was released without bail on Friday and is anticipated to plead not guilty, according to his legal representative.

The following evening, Lemon mingled with other high-profile guests at Clive Davis’s renowned Pre-Grammy gala in Beverly Hills, accompanied by his husband, Tim Malone, 41.

A wave of applause erupted when host Clive Davis acknowledged Lemon during the event, underscoring the support he received from the crowd.

Don Lemon received a standing ovation from Hollywood at a lavish pre-Grammy Awards party just days after his controversial arrest

On Saturday night, Lemon was among the A-list guests at Clive Davis’s iconic Pre-Grammy gala in Beverly Hills

Most of the attendees inside the Beverly Hilton – which is where Lemon was reportedly arrested just days earlier – rose from their seats to honor Lemon as he stood up and mouthed ‘thank you.’

Lemon shared footage of the moment to his Instagram, calling it ‘extraordinary’ as he expressed gratitude for the support he’s received.

‘Thank you, Clive Davis, for having us and for such an extraordinary welcome. Feeling deeply supported right now!’ the journalist penned in the caption.

In the comment’s section of his post, Lemon added, ‘Thank you all for the support, it means the world right now!’

Despite his legal woes, photos from Clive Davis’s Pre-Grammy gala showed Lemon looking happy and stylish in a sleek all-black outfit.

He was seen mingling with celebrity attendees, including rapper Busta Rhymes, and posed for photos with husband Malone.

Lemon, 59, was arrested in Los Angeles and indicted Friday for conspiracy to deprive congregants of their rights and interfering with religious freedom in a house of worship.

The charges came after he attended a protest that interrupted a service at Cities Church in St Paul on January 18.

Demonstrators targeted Pastor David Easterwood, who reportedly also works as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.

Lemon insists that although he attended the protest, he was just there to report on it. Another independent journalist, Georgia Fort, was also indicted for attending.

Lemon was released without bond after the initial court hearings on Friday.

Attendees rose from their seats after host Clive Davis recognized Lemon during the soiree

Most of the attendees in the room rose from their seats to honor Lemon as he waved and mouthed ‘thank you’

Lemon shared footage of the moment to his Instagram, calling it ‘extraordinary’ as he expressed gratitude for the support he’s received

In the comment’s section of his post, Lemon added, ‘Thank you all for the support, it means the world right now!’

‘Thank you, Clive Davis, for having us and for such an extraordinary welcome. Feeling deeply supported right now!’ the journalist wrote on Instagram

During his 20 minute appearance Lemon didn’t enter a formal plea but his lawyer Marilyn Bednarski told the court that he was pleading not guilty.

‘He’s committed to fighting this case – he’s not going anywhere,’ Bednarski told the court when prosecutors asked for Judge Patricia Donahue to impose bail of $100,000 on Lemon, who had been in custody overnight after his arrest Thursday in Beverly Hills.

Prosecutors also asked the judge to order Lemon, who is in Los Angeles to cover the Grammy Awards, to surrender his passport and restrict his travel to New York where he lives and Minnesota.

‘This is a very serious felony,’ argued lead government attorney Alexander Robbins at the packed hearing which was attended by LA mayor Karen Bass and Lemon’s husband Tim Malone, whom the journalist blew a kiss to.

Bednarski countered that as an international reporter, restricting his travel would be ‘inappropriate.’

‘He is not a flight risk. He is not a danger whatsoever. He has no criminal convictions. He has been a journalist since he graduated journalism school in 1996. That’s what he does.’

Judge Donahue rejected federal prosecutors’ request for $100,000 bail and released Lemon on his own recognizance.

She also said he could go on a planned sailing trip to France in June, ‘so long as it does not interfere with any upcoming court proceedings in Minnesota,’ where Lemon will face his next hearing on February 9.

Lemon was joined by his husband Tim Malone, 41, at the party

Despite his legal woes, photos from Clive Davis’s Pre-Grammy gala showed Lemon looking happy and stylish in a sleek all-black outfit

He was seen mingling with celebrity attendees, including rapper Busta Rhymes

The judge also ordered Lemon to ‘have no contact with victims or witnesses’ in his case.

The White House mocked Lemon after his arrest.

‘When life gives you lemons…’ the official Trump administration account said in a post, captioning a black and white image of Lemon inside the church.

The incident was filmed for his show at the Cities Church in St Paul on January 18 where he captured protesters opposed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeting the church because one of its pastors, David Easterwood, also leads the local ICE field office.

Protesters screamed and harassed worshippers during the incident, which sparked nationwide fury.

In his footage from the storming of the church, Lemon was seen arguing with a church pastor who called his antics ‘shameless.’

Lemon insisted that his behavior was covered by the First Amendment, as he fumed to the pastor: ‘There’s a Constitution and a First Amendment, and freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest.’

He also later bragged on Jennifer Welch’s ‘I’ve Had It’ podcast on Monday afternoon that he was the ‘biggest name’ at the anti-ICE church protest.

‘You know, I said, ‘I don’t understand how I’ve become the face of it when I was a journalist’ – I do understand that, I was the biggest name there,’ Lemon told Welch.

Lemon was released from custody without bail on Friday following a court hearing in Los Angelesand is expected to enter a not guilty plea, according to his attorney; seen Friday

‘He’s committed to fighting this case – he’s not going anywhere,’ Bednarski told the court when prosecutors asked for Judge Patricia Donahue to impose bail of $100,000 on Lemon; seen Friday 

The independent journalist then shared the message his producers gave him after realizing how much of a stir he made.

‘I was on with my producers this morning… My producers were saying, I said, ‘How did I become the face of this?’, and my producers said Don, you’re a gay, black man in America.

‘And you have a platform, and you’re the biggest name. Of course you’re going to be the person that they single out, and they’re gonna make the headline because it plays to their base, and their base is full of racist, bigoted homophobes like Nicki Minaj, by the way,’ Lemon added.

A few days later, Lemon was indicted by a grand jury in Minnesota, and has been charged with conspiracy to deprive rights and a violation of the FACE act, which prohibits interfering with someone’s right to worship.

Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023, has said he has no affiliation to the organization that went into the church and that he was there as an independent journalist chronicling protesters.

Along with Lemon’s arrest, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Jaunary 22 that Nekima Levy Armstrong and Chauntyll Louisa Allen had been taken into custody.

FBI Director Kash Patel later said that a third protester, William Kelly, had also been detained.

A source told the Daily Mail that Lemon was seen being handcuffed while flanked by FBI and Homeland Security agents, and he ‘didn’t look overly happy.’

Lemon was seen in footage from the incident on January 18th arguing with the church pastor as anti-ICE protesters screamed and harassed worshippers

‘When life gives you lemons…’ the official Trump administration account said in a post, captioning a black and white image of Lemon inside the church 

An insider familiar with the investigation added that prosecutors considered that Lemon would likely enjoy the publicity of his arrest, and said it was ‘definitely a downside’ to bringing charges against him.

‘He’ll write a book and act like he’s a martyr,’ the source said. ‘But I also think if you don’t do anything you send a message that people can disrupt church services, and I think they have to cut that s*** off and enforce the law.’

Lemon began his journalism career as a weekend news anchor at a local station in Birmingham, Alabama, before working at outlets in Pennsylvania and Missouri.

He went on to join NBC News from 2003 to 2006, before joining CNN in 2006. After eight years at the network he’d get his big gig anchoring CNN Tonight from 2014 until his firing in 2023.

In 2024, he launched The Don Lemon Show as a podcast and YouTube series and married his longtime partner, real estate agent Tim Malone.