Kimmel Claims Lemon 'Was Arrested For Committing Journalism'

Alex Christy
February 3rd, 2026 9:40 AM

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Before former CNN anchor Don Lemon joined ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday to discuss his recent arrest, he was probably told by his lawyer not to say anything that would get him in trouble, so that left much of the outrage-mongering about the actual incident to the eponymous host. According to Kimmel, Lemon was “arrested for committing journalism” and accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of lying and hypocrisy for saying the administration will not tolerate people who disrupt worship services, although his evidence was practically non-existent.

Kimmel began by introducing Lemon, “Our first guest tonight is a longtime TV and digital newsman who on Thursday night was arrested for committing journalism, which is a very serious crime under our current administration. Joining us now to share all the incredible details, please welcome Don Lemon.”

 

 

As Lemon sat down, Kimmel continued, “Thank you for being here. I—and I hope you're okay. I hope you're mentally okay after what happened to you. How are you?”

Lemon answered, “I don't know” and “That's a really—that's an honest answer. I don't know. I mean, I'm okay. But I'm not going to let them steal my joy, but this is very serious. I mean, these are federal criminal charges.”

One of the unintended side effects of Lemon’s arrest is that it forced Kimmel to actually talk about the St. Paul church invasion. Of course, Kimmel sided with the mob, however, sarcastically noting, “Apparently there was a pastor at the church who was also a local ICE official, which is, I think, just as Jesus would want, and I believe we have some B-roll. Protesters interrupted the Sunday service. And you followed them in.”

 

 

He then wondered, “You interviewed various people in the church. And afterward, well, you were arrested. Now, first I want to ask you, is there a difference between whether those protesters had the right to go into a church and whether a credentialed journalist like yourself had the right to go in and cover them going into the church?”

Kimmel also omitted how Lemon is alleged to have obstructed the exit and not to have left after the pastor asked him to. As for Kimmel’s question, Lemon repeated his standard talking point, “Well, listen, obviously in the middle of this, I can't say a lot. There's a lot that I cannot say. But what I will say is that I'm not a protester. I went there to be a journalist. I went there to chronicle and document and record what was happening. I was following that one group around, and so that's what I did. I reported on them. But I do think that there is a difference between a protester and a journalist.”

Later, Kimmel came back from a commercial with a clip of Bondi declaring, “Make no mistake, under President Trump's leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely. And if I haven't been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.”

Kimmel reacted by huffing, “That is Pam Bondi, our attorney general, lying to us, using her freedom of speech to lie. And I think it's worth noting that last year the Trump administration made it legal for ICE agents to enter houses of worship, schools, health care facilities. But they're saying that it's not okay for journalists to do the same thing. I think that's interesting.”

 

 

What is the lie? Kimmel never specified. Nor did he care to explain his weird logic that compares law enforcement actions to private citizens invading private property.

He did, however, ask, “While you were in custody overnight—we're talking about being in a holding cell. What's going through your mind? What are you doing? How do you pass that time?”

Lemon lamented, “Well, the entire time it happened, you know, I said I thought it might happen. And my attorney, you know, called them or reached out—emailed them, reached out, and never heard back… I just kept chronicling in my head what I was doing, what I was seeing, what was happening, every time I had to go—because it was a holding room—every time I needed to go to the restroom, I had to knock on the door. They had to come get me and then take me to the bathroom and stand there while I was using—while I was peeing.”

As for the media as an industry, Lemon decried people who platform those "who come on just to lie," which is ironic given Kimmel's evidence-free assertion that Bondi is lying and personal history.

 

 

If Kimmel insisted on interviewing Lemon, he should’ve asked about his refusal to leave when asked and about the allegations he hindered people’s ability to leave. Lemon probably would not have answered, but if Kimmel wants to be a newsman in addition to a comedian, that should’ve been the bare minimum.

Here is a transcript for the February 2 show:

ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!

2/2/22026

11:57 PM ET

JIMMY KIMMEL: Our first guest tonight is a longtime TV and digital newsman who on Thursday night was arrested for committing journalism, which is a very serious crime under our current administration. Joining us now to share all the incredible details, please welcome Don Lemon.

Thank you for being here. I—and I hope you're okay. I hope you're mentally okay after what happened to you. How are you?

DON LEMON: I don't know.

KIMMEL: You don't know?

LEMON: That's a really — that's an honest answer. I don't know. I mean, I'm okay. But I'm not going to let them steal my joy, but this is very serious. I mean, these are federal criminal charges.

KIMMEL: Yeah. And time in prison can change a man, even if it's just one night.

LEMON: Yeah, well, not yet. Don't get ahead of yourself, Jimmy.

…

KIMMEL: Apparently there was a pastor at the church who was also a local ICE official, which is, I think, just as Jesus would want, and I believe we have some B-roll. Protesters interrupted the Sunday service. And you followed them in. You interviewed various people in the church. And afterward, well, you were arrested. Now, first I want to ask you, is there a difference between whether those protesters had the right to go into a church and whether a credentialed journalist like yourself had the right to go in and cover them going into the church?

LEMON: Well, listen, obviously in the middle of this, I can't say a lot. There's a lot that I cannot say. But what I will say is that I'm not a protester.

KIMMEL: Right.

LEMON: I went there to be a journalist. I went there to chronicle and document and record what was happening. I was following that one group around, and so that's what I did. I reported on them. But I do think that there is a difference between a protester and a journalist.

…

PAM BONDI: Make no mistake, under President Trump's leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely. And if I haven't been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you.

KIMMEL: We are back with Don Lemon. That is Pam Bondi, our attorney general, lying to us, using her freedom of speech to lie. And I think it's worth noting that last year the Trump administration made it legal for ICE agents to enter houses of worship, schools, health care facilities. But they're saying that it's not okay for journalists to do the same thing. I think that's interesting.

LEMON: Yeah.

KIMMEL: You — while you were in custody overnight — we're talking about being in a holding cell. What's going through your mind? What are you doing? How do you pass that time?

LEMON: Well, the entire time it happened, you know, I said I thought it might happen. And my attorney, you know, called them or reached out — emailed them, reached out, and never heard back. But the entire time, I was thinking that I'm a journalist, and I just start thinking in my head, how many agents are there? Who am I riding in the truck with? Like, I wanted to keep mental notes of that. I couldn't — obviously I didn't have a phone or anything to write it down. So, that's what I was doing. People count their steps. I just kept chronicling in my head what I was doing, what I was seeing, what was happening, every time I had to go—because it was a holding room—every time I needed to go to the restroom, I had to knock on the door. They had to come get me and then take me to the bathroom and stand there while I was using—while I was peeing.

...

LEMON: We don't need the people saying, “well careful what you're saying because we need access to the president and we don't want to lose this interview for the morning show.” You know what I'm saying? Or “We need to get our mergers and acquisitions done in Washington so don't piss off the president or he might sue us.”

So, that's why I'm doing what I'm doing because I think there's a real need right now. This is an important time. This is not a time for folly. It's not a time for false equivalence and putting people on television and on news programs, giving them a platform who come on just to lie. I think people are sick of that. Some things—some things are objectively bad, Jimmy, and you don't have to—just because you say something critical of Donald Trump or Republicans doesn't mean that you have to go and say something. “Oh, well, you know the Democrats or Joe Biden—“ No. Some things are objectively bad, and I think it's important in this time to point that out.

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