Jane Fonda hit out at president Donald Trump outside of Don Lemon’s court hearing on Friday, after the journalist was arrested over a pro-immigration protest at a Minnesota church.
The Barbarella actress, 88, defended the former CNN anchor as she spoke to assembled protesters outside of a federal courthouse in Los Angeles.
Taking a swipe at the commander-in-chief, she told the crowd: ‘They arrested the wrong Don.’
Lemon, 59, is accused of conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshipers, after he joined anti-ICE protesters who stormed a church on January 18.
But Fonda passionately defended the reporter, telling the crowd: ‘Don Lemon is a professional journalist. He, and his producer, were doing their job. Nothing more, nothing less. And he’s been arrested.’
‘I know Don Lemon. My husband created CNN. And I will fight for their right to speak, which is guaranteed in our constitution,’ she said, in reference to her third ex-husband, media mogul Ted Turner, 87, who founded CNN.
Jane Fonda, 88, hit out at president Donald Trump outside of Don Lemon’s court hearing on Friday, after the journalist was arrested over a pro-immigration protest at a Minnesota church
Lemon (pictured outside the courthouse in Los Angeles on Friday) is accused of conspiracy and interfering with the First Amendment rights of worshipers
Fonda and Turner got married in 1991. They separated in 2000, and their divorce was finalized in 2001.
Fonda promised to continue speaking out on behalf of journalists as she urged others to do the same.
‘We are not ready to sit and be quiet. We have to speak up. Every American who believes in our constitution has to speak up.’
‘And they’ll make up all kinds of defamatory things to say about him. That’s what they’re doing. This is how autocrats act.’
‘We can’t fall for it. We have to speak up. When a red line is crossed like this, we cannot be silent.’
Lemon – sporting a white suit and cream sweater – was released without bail after appearing at court on federal charges relating to his coverage of anti-ICE protests at a church in Minneapolis earlier this month.
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 LA to cover this Sunday’s 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.
The Barbarella actress defended the former CNN anchor as she spoke to assembled protesters outside the courthouse
Taking a swipe at the commander-in-chief, she told the crowd: ‘They arrested the wrong Don’
‘Don Lemon is a professional journalist. He, and his producer, were doing their job. Nothing more, nothing less. And he’s been arrested,’ she told the crowd
‘I know Don Lemon. My husband created CNN. And I will fight for their right to speak,’ she said, in reference to her third ex-husband, media mogul Ted Turner, 87, who founded CNN; The former pair pictured in 1990
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.
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.’
The White House mocked Lemon after his arrest on Thursday; President Trump pictured on Friday in Washington
‘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
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.
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.
Lemon was seen in footage from the incident on January 18th arguing with the church pastor as anti-ICE protesters screamed and harassed worshippers
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.’
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.
