Trump DOJ Juices Don Lemon Footprint With Arrest — By Whopping 600,000 Followers And Counting

The arrest of independent journalist Don Lemon by President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has netted the former CNN star a windfall to his social media footprint — over 600,000 new followers and counting.

The political media world was shocked Friday morning when news of Don Lemon’s arrest broke. Federal agents took Lemon into custody in Los Angeles over his coverage of a protest at a St. Paul church.

Lemon was released from custody without bail Friday night and struck a defiant tone outside the courthouse.

While legal experts like Mediaite founder Dan Abrams expect the case to go “nowhere,” it seems to have certainly sent Lemon’s profile soaring.

According to an analysis by social media researcher Kyle Tharp, Lemon has seen a surge in growth to the “Lemon Head Army” since the arrest:

Lemon is one of several high-profile TV news figures who have moved into independent media in recent years. Former CNN personalities like Jim Acosta, Roland Martin, Jessica Yellin, and Chris Cillizza all launched their own digital media ventures after leaving the network, as have a dozen others from rival networks.

On YouTube, he’s been one of the most successful to make the switch, with his channel accumulating over 1.15 million subscribers since early 2024. He has added hundreds of thousands of those subscribers over the past year and now draws tens of millions of views per month, placing him firmly in the upper tier of U.S. political commentary channels and likely surpassing $1 million in annual ad-sharing revenue. Just since Friday, another 150,000 people have subscribed to Lemon’s channel.

In addition to YouTube, he also maintains a Substack newsletter with more than 127,000 readers. According to publicly available data on Substack, that includes “thousands” of paid subscribers, meaning he’s earning well over $100,000 a year just from the email platform alone.

The Lemon Head footprint includes other social media platforms as well—his personal brand boasts a following of 2.6 million on Instagram, 2.1 million on TikTok, 1.6 million on Facebook, and 200,000 on Bluesky. Over 600,000 of those have been added since his arrest on Friday. For a guy who left CNN amidst a scandal a little over two years ago, it’s a solid audience base that will only continue to grow amidst his feud with the Trump administration.

Several observers have predicted that the arrest will end up being a windfall for Lemon, including former CNN colleague Jim Acosta.

“It’s like, where do I send the check?” Acosta said after Lemon’s arrest.

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