speaks

Making his first major post-arrest television interview Monday on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” Don Lemon detailed the moments surrounding his incarceration and his experience as a journalist becoming the center of a news story.

“There’s a lot that I cannot say,” Lemon told Kimmel. “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 do think that there is a difference between a protester and a journalist.”

The appearance arrived less than a week after the former CNN anchor — now an independent journalist who hosts a YouTube show — was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles following his coverage of an anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church earlier this month. Lemon, 59, was released without bond Friday and is expected to plead not guilty, according to his attorneys.

On Monday’s show, Kimmel began the conversation by asking Lemon how he was feeling: “I don’t know — that’s an honest answer,” Lemon said. “I’m OK. I’m not going to let them steal my joy, but this is very serious. These are federal criminal charges.”

Lemon was arrested — along with three others in attendance at the protest — at the direction of Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, who said on X that it was in connection to what she described as a “coordinated attack” on the church, located in St. Paul. Lemon is charged with conspiracy to deprive the church congregants of their rights and interfering by force with someone’s First Amendment rights. Lemon has denied participating in the protest at the church — assembled to decry that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field officer apparently serves as a pastor there — saying he was present in a journalistic capacity.

Playfully acknowledging that he hasn’t been a favorite of President Trump’s since his time on CNN, Lemon said he hadn’t been concerned about his possible arrest — even with a re-post by Trump calling for it — until it gained steam by members of Trump’s cabinet, including Bondi and Todd Blanche, the U.S. deputy attorney general. Lemon said that after retaining a lawyer and volunteering to turn himself in to handle the matter without fanfare, he “never heard back from them.”

“That is customary in a situation like this, that someone would be allowed to turn themselves in,” Lemon said. “People who are who are accused of much worse things than I am accused of doing, they are allowed the courtesy. I mean, Donald Trump was allowed the courtesy to turn himself in …”

Lemon went on to detail the moments leading up to his arrest Thursday, which came after a night of covering a Grammys event for the Black Music Collective and attending a post-party celebration.

“I got back to the hotel, I walked in with my swag bag from the thing … and I pressed the elevator button and all of a sudden I feel myself being jostled, people trying to grab me and put me in handcuffs,” he recounted. “And I said, ‘What are you doing here?’ And they said, ‘We came to arrest you.’ I said, ‘Who are you?’ Then finally they identified themselves. And I said, ‘If you are who you are, then where’s the warrant?’ And they didn’t have a warrant, so they had to wait for the someone from outside, an FBI guy, to come in to show me a warrant on a cell phone … They took me outside FBI guys were out there. It had to be maybe a dozen people, which is a waste, Jimmy, of resources … They want to embarrass you. They want to intimidate you. They want to instill fear.”

He said he hadn’t realized how much attention his arrest had generated until he saw CNN broadcasting the story on a TV monitor where he was being held.

“I could see ‘Former CNN anchor Don Lemon arrested in Los Angeles,’” he said. “I said to the guy, ‘Is that happening a lot?’ He goes, ‘You’ve been on all morning, yeah. And he says, ‘This is a big deal.’”

During the conversation, Kimmel criticized what he felt was a lack of attention to the recent search by FBI agents of the home of a Washington Post reporter who covers the federal government. Lemon, who parted ways with CNN in 2023, attributed it to a fear among the leaders of corporate press enterprises.

“Corporate media has been neutered right now. They are afraid, and that’s the reason I’m so happy with what I do, because I’m closer to the ground,” he said. “This is not time for folly. It’s not time for false equivalence, and putting people on television and on news programs, giving them a platform, who come on just to lie. …. Some things are objectively bad and I think its important in this time to point that out.”

Lemon hitting the late-night circuit intensifies its spotlight as a free-speech battleground. The Trump era has prompted more pointed and passionate takes from most of the major hosts that, in turn, have captured the attention and ire of the president, who has provoked threats against them and their broadcasters.

Last year, CBS announced it was canceling “The Late Show” after a three-decade run — a decision the company attributed to financial reasons and not, as many have speculated, because of host Stephen Colbert’s criticism of a settlement between the Trump administration and Paramount, the parent company of CBS, over a 2024 “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

More recently, Kimmel faced a brief suspension last fall over comments regarding the killing of right-wing activist and influencer Charlie Kirk (ABC ultimately reinstated Kimmel following public backlash.) In fact, Lemon referenced that situation prior to his arrest, when a judge dismissed prosectors’ initial charging effort: “This is not a victory lap for me because it’s not over. They’re gonna try again,” Lemon told his followers on his YouTube show after the judge’s ruling. “Go ahead, make me into the new Jimmy Kimmel, if you want.”

Last Friday, addressing a crowd outside the courthouse upon his release, Lemon said, “There is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable. I will not stop now, I will not stop ever.”

After Paul Dano came under unexpected fire from filmmaker Quentin Tarantino in December, the “There Will Be Blood” star received support from fellow artists including Daniel Day-Lewis and Ben Stiller. A month after the drama, he is now returning the love.

Dano finally publicly addressed Tarantino’s controversial comments at the Sundance Film Festival during a 20th anniversary screening of “Little Miss Sunshine.” Speaking to Variety, he said the groundswell of support “was really nice.”

Tarantino appeared on Bret Easton Ellis’ podcast in December to rank his top 10 films of the century. The “Django Unchained” and “Pulp Fiction” filmmaker placed Paul Thomas Anderson’s oil drama “There Will Be Blood” at No. 5 on his list, and said specifically Dano — not his performance — was the “big, giant flaw” in the Oscar-winning film. “There Will Be Blood” stars Dano as fiery preacher Eli Sunday and Day-Lewis as oil tycoon Daniel Plainview.

When the movie was released in 2007, former Times film critic Kenneth Turan praised Dano as “smoothly effective” and gifted. Clearly, Tarantino thought otherwise.

“He is weak sauce, man. He’s a weak sister,” Tarantino said, adding that he thought “Elvis” star Austin Butler (who was a teenager launching his career on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon when the movie came out) would have been a better actor for the part. “He’s just such a weak, weak, uninteresting guy,” he said.

Tarantino added: “You put [Day-Lewis] with the the weakest f— actor in SAG?”

A handful of Dano’s collaborators immediately defended him. “Escape at Dannemora” executive producer Stiller praised him as “brilliant” and Reese Witherspoon called her “Inherent Vice” co-star an “incredibly gifted, versatile actor” and a gentleman. Matt Reeves, Josh Gad, Alec Baldwin and Simu Liu also voiced their support for Dano, whose credits include Steven Speilberg’s Oscar-nominated “The Fabelmans,” Bong Joon Ho‘s “Okja” and Oscar-winning director duo Daniels’ (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) “Swiss Army Man.”

“I was also incredibly grateful that the world spoke up for me so I didn’t have to,” Dano said at the Sundance screening.

Before Dano responded, though, Toni Collette (who played his mom in “Little Miss Sunshine”) chimed in, dismissing “that guy” Tarantino and speculating that “he must’ve been high.”

“It was just confusing. Who does that?,” she said, according to Variety. “Little Miss Sunshine” directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris also criticized Tarantino and praised their star.

During his podcast appearance in December, Tarantino also slammed Owen Wilson and scream king Matthew Lillard. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly published Wednesday, Lillard brushed off the shade and recalled the ensuing social media praise for his talents. “It was like living through your own wake,” Lillard told EW.

“All those R.I.P. emails or tweets and Instagram posts and TikToks, all of the things we see after somebody passes are so sweet,” he added. “And the reality is I just got to live through all of it firsthand — alive and kicking! I can’t imagine a more lovely reaction to what happened.”

Melissa Gilbert has returned to social media to some extent amid an “extraordinarily difficult time” stemming from the child sex abuse case involving her husband Timothy Busfield.

The “Little House on the Prairie” alumna, 61, spoke out on Monday, issuing a statement of gratitude and reflection to the Instagram page of her lifestyle brand, Modern Prairie. She made her Instagram comeback after seemingly deactivating her personal account earlier this month, when allegations against her husband became public.

“This season has reminded me, very clearly, how important it is to slow down, prioritize what truly matters, and allow ourselves moments of rest,” she captioned a photo of herself sitting pensively on a couch. “Stepping back from the noise, the news, and even our daily responsibilities from time to time gives us space to recharge, reflect and find our center again.”

Earlier this month, a New Mexico judge issued a warrant for Emmy winner Busfield, 68, on two felony counts of criminal sexual contact with a minor and a single count of child abuse. An affidavit accuses Busfield of inappropriately touching two child actors, who are brothers, during his time as an actor, director and producer on the Fox drama “The Cleaning Lady.”

According to the complaint, one child actor said Busfield first touched his “private areas” multiple times on set when he was 7 years old. The actor said that, when he was 8 years old, Busfield touched him inappropriately again several times, according to the affidavit. The complaint also detailed a police interview with Busfield in which he suggested that the boys’ mother might have sought “revenge” on the director for “not bringing her kids back for the final season.”

Amid the allegations against Busfield, Gilbert’s Modern Prairie issued a statement on Instagram distancing itself from the disturbing claims. “Modern Prairie unequivocally condemns abuse in all forms and remains committed to values of safety, integrity, and respect.” the statement said.

Busfield turned himself in to law enforcement on Jan. 13, denying the “horrible” allegations and asserting: “I did not do anything to those little boys.” A publicist for Gilbert at the time said the actor would not comment on her husband’s case, denounced “any purported statements” and said that she was focused on caring for her and Busfield’s family. Busfield has three adult children from two previous marriages and is the stepfather to Gilbert’s two adult sons from her two previous marriages.

Busfield, known for his roles on “The West Wing” and “Thirtysomething,” was jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque but was granted release on his own recognizance on Jan. 20. At the hearing, to determine whether Busfield would be released pending trial, Gilbert could be seen crying and saying, “Thank you, God” upon the judge’s decision.

Gilbert thanked her Modern Prairie community for their patience and “for helping me feel safer, more grounded, and deeply held,” amid the scrutiny surrounding her family.

“I’ll be easing back into things thoughtfully and with care — moving forward one step at a time,” she said. “More to come and so much gratitude always.”