Jane Fonda called Donald Trump a ‘traumatized person’ during a speech that did everything but mention him by name while accepting the SAG Life Achievement Award.
The legendary Hollywood star, 87, at one point earned the nickname ‘Hanoi Jane’ for her protest of the Vietnam War in a celebrity life that has long been intertwined with liberal causes.
She was back on her bully pulpit Sunday night as she used the majority of her speech as a call to arms against the Trump administration.
‘We are in our documentary moment,’ Fonda said, after referring to iconic events such as Stonewall and the March on Selma.
‘This is it. And it’s not a rehearsal.’
After leaving fans concerned while walking the red carpet, she spoke indirectly and negatively about Trump´s administration while defending ‘wokeness.’
The closest she came to mentioning Trump by name was when she spoke about actors portraying bullies and being able to play them by using empathy, suggesting they had suffered abuse from their fathers.
She then talked about actors who had to portray them, directly talking about Sebastian Stan’s performance in The Apprentice where he plays a younger version of Trump.
Fonda referred to Trump as a ‘traumatized person’ whom Stan had to research and understand using empathy.
Jane Fonda did everything but say Donald Trump ‘s name in a highly political speech accepting the SAG Awards ‘ Life Achievement prize that defended ‘wokeness’ and unions
Fonda referred to Trump as a ‘traumatized person’ whom actor Sebastian Stan had to research and understand using empathy
Fonda said that practicing empathy ‘is not weak or woke,’ and added that ‘woke just means you give a damn about other people.’
‘A whole lot of people are going to be hurt by what’s happening, by what´s coming our way,’ said Fonda. ‘We are going to need a big tent to resist what´s coming at us.’
She even encouraged liberals to reach out to Trump voters, saying that he would ‘hurt’ them too.
‘A whole lot of people are gonna be really hurt by what is happening, what is coming our way,’ she said.
‘And even if they are of a different political persuasion, we need to call upon our empathy and not judge, but listen from our hearts, and welcome them into our tent. Because we are gonna need a big tent to resist successfully what’s coming at us.’
Fonda demanded that Hollywood rise against Trump the same way they did in the 1950s against McCarthyism.
‘I made my first movie in 1958. It was at the tail end of McCarthyism, when so many careers were destroyed. Today, it’s helpful to remember, though, that Hollywood resisted.’
She even joked about how she’d become reliably associated with liberal protest with a nod to her earliest work.
‘Acting gave me a chance to play angry women with opinions, which, you know, is a bit of a stretch for me,’ she said.
The legendary Hollywood star, 87, whose career has long intertwined with liberal causes, at one point earning her the nickname ‘Hanoi Jane’ for her protest of the Vietnam War, was back on her hobby horse Sunday night
After leaving fans concerned walking the red carpet , she spoke indirectly and negatively about President Donald Trump´s new administration
Fonda then asked everyone else to join her in her fight against Trump and the Republican Party.
‘Have any of you ever watched a documentary of one of the great social movements – apartheid or civil rights or Stonewall – and ask yourself, would you have been brave enough to walk the bridge? We don’t have to wonder anymore. We are in our documentary moment. This is it, and it’s not a rehearsal!’
In her introduction of the long-time star, Julia Louis-Dreyfus bragged about Fonda’s place on Richard Nixon’s enemies list to much applause.
Fonda began her speech remarking upon her A-list career, which didn’t follow the typical Hollywood storyline.
‘I have had a really weird career. Totally unstrategic. I retired for 15 years and then I came back at 65 which is not usual, and then I made one of my most successful movies in my 80s. And probably in my 90s I’ll be doing my own stunts in an action movie,’ she said.
She added that she felt empowered being given the award by her union.
‘This means the world to me. Thank you SAG AFTRA. Your enthusiasm makes this seem less like a late twilight of my life, and more like a go girl, kick a**. Which is good because I’m not done.’
She demanded that her fellow actors organize together in the age of Trump to finish off her speech.
Fonda was featured in a video posted by Kamala for Michigan greeting a resident of Ann Arbor and asking for the woman’s support
‘We must not isolate. We must stay in community. We must find ways to project an inspiring message of the future. There will still be love. There will still be beauty. And there will be an ocean of truth for us to swim in.’
‘Let’s make it so. Thank you for this encouragement,’ she added.
Fonda most recently went door-to-door in Michigan to campaign for Kamala Harris ahead of the presidential election.
Not all were happy to see Fonda’s activism – with many still taking offense to her controversial stance on the Vietnam War in the 1970s, where she actively called for the war’s end and even traveled to the country.
Fonda got the nickname ‘Hanoi Jane’ after she was pictured sitting on an antiaircraft gun during a 1972 trip to North Vietnam, an image that still haunts her to this day and one she spoke about in her 2005 memoir, My Life So Far.
The actress was invited to the war-torn country to tour its dike system, which was rumored to have been bombed by US forces – something the US denies.
While there for two weeks, Fonda declared America had bombed Vietnamese farmland that was far from war zones and appeared on a radio show pleading with US pilots to stop the bombings.
Following her return home, the actress was slammed by the State Department, for her decision to speak out in support of Vietnam. Congress also held a hearing, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars called for her to be prosecuted as a traitor, according to the Washington Post.
Not all were happy to see Fonda’s activism – with many still taking offense to her controversial stance on the Vietnam War in the 1970s, where she actively called for the war’s end and even traveled to the country
The actress was invited to the war-torn country to tour its dike system, which was rumored to have been bombed by US forces – something the US denies. She begged US pilots to stop the bombings and even went on a Vietnamese radio show to protest
Fonda continued to speak out into 1973.
She has continuously apologized for the Hanoi photo, including giving a detailed explanation in her 2005 memoir, where she admitted she didn’t realize the ‘implication of what has just happened’ until it was too late.
‘Oh, my God. It’s going to look like I was trying to shoot down US planes!’ she remembered thinking, recalling that she begged the photos not to be published.
‘It is possible that the Vietnamese had it all planned. I will never know. If they did, can I really blame them? The buck stops here. If I was used, I allowed it to happen. It was my mistake, and I have paid and continue to pay a heavy price for it,’ she wrote.
Earlier in the night, an interview with Lilly Singh on the red carpet left many viewers upset.
Many were left worried about the star after she appeared to stumble over her words and struggled to answer the questions during their talk.
During the interview, Lilly asked Jane about her dress, what she liked to do when she wasn’t acting, and what advice she had for younger stars.
Jane gave short and terse responses, and at one point, snapped at the interviewer, ‘I never said that.’
She has continuously apologized for the Hanoi photos, including giving a detailed explanation in her 2005 memoir, where she admitted she didn’t realize the ‘implication of what has just happened’ until it was too late
Jane Fonda left viewers concerned after she appeared ‘dazed’ and ‘confused’ while being interviewed on the red carpet at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday evening
X, formerly Twitter, was immediately flooded with posts about the awkward encounter.
‘Jane Fonda was in a daze,’ one person wrote.
‘Is it me or did Jane Fonda seem disoriented on the red carpet? She is always poised and well-spoken but something seemed “off” tonight,’ someone else noted.
‘Was anyone else extremely uncomfortable when Jane Fonda was being uncomfortable?’ asked another user. ‘It was so awkward and difficult to watch.’
‘The way the vibe kind of died with Jane Fonda. It was so awkward,’ read a fourth tweet.
A fifth said, ‘Is Jane Fonda OK? Swaying, slow responses, labored breathing. Scary to watch, hope she’s OK.’
‘My girl Jane Fonda was not having it. What an awkward interview,’ a different user added.
This is a developing story.
