Rihanna Shows Love to Don Lemon on His Birthday Amid Nicki Minaj Feud

Rihanna is making it clear she's standing with Don Lemon following his clash with Nicki Minaj ... posing alongside the journalist to ring in his 60th birthday.

Lemon took to IG to share a sweet rooftop selfie with RiRi -- smiling ear-to-ear as he rocks a fresh pair of shades. He captions the pic, “Birthday hijinks with my girl Rihanna,” and set it to her 2011 hit “Birthday Cake.”

You’ll recall … a few weeks ago, Lemon found himself in an all-out war with Nicki Minaj after he live-streamed a news report from Cities Church in St. Paul, MN, where demonstrators interrupted a service to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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Nicki went ballistic online, at one point posting, “DON ‘C**K SUCKIN’ LEMON IS DISGUSTING” -- along with several other insulting remarks.

Rihanna, meanwhile, seems perfectly happy to celebrate with him.

As we reported … Don had some R&R lined up for his birthday, telling us he planned a “spa day in a beach town” after attending the NAACP Image Awards, where he was honored with 4 awards.

Clearly, Rihanna was the icing the cake.