Jane Fonda relaunches free speech group started by her father during the McCarthy era

[muriel_volestrangler]

Jane Fonda has relaunched the Committee for the First Amendment, the McCarthy-era initiative started by her father, Henry Fonda, with a groundswell of celebrity support.

The new committee, established to protect free speech from government censorship, has the support of over 550 entertainment figures, including: Quinta Brunson, Viola Davis, Kerry Washington, Natalie Portman, Aaron Sorkin, Spike Lee, Pedro Pascal, Ben Stiller, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Penn, John Legend, Damon Lindelof, Julianne Moore, Janelle Monáe, Barbra Streisand, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ethan Hawke, Billie Eilish, Anjelica Huston and Judd Apatow.

“The McCarthy Era ended when Americans from across the political spectrum finally came together and stood up for the principles in the Constitution against the forces of repression,” Fonda said in a statement. “Those forces have returned. And it is our turn to stand together in defense of our constitutional rights.
...
The original committee was co-founded by Henry Fonda in the 1940s, in response to the House un-American activities committee. The House committee, led by senator Joseph McCarthy, accused entertainment figures of being communist sympathizers, derailing many careers and casting a chilling effect on Hollywood.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oct/01/jane-fonda-committee-first-amendment-trump

For a few decades, the Republicans pretended to have a sense of decency, and the fight against HUAC wasn't needed. No longer.

[UTUSN]

1. K&R

[Wounded Bear]

2. K&R...nt

[newdeal2]

3. Great to see activism rising

We need younger folks to step up now too.

[malaise]

4. Wonderful

Rec

[erronis]

5. Absolutely wonderful. A bit more from The Guardian article:

In a letter encouraging her peers to join the initiative, Fonda pointed to her long history as a civil rights activist. “I’m 87 years old,” she wrote. “I’ve seen war, repression, protest, and backlash. I’ve been celebrated, and I’ve been branded an enemy of the state.

“But I can tell you this: this is the most frightening moment of my life,” she added. “When I feel scared, I look to history. I wish there were a secret playbook with all the answers – but there never has been. The only thing that has ever worked – time and time again – is solidarity: binding together, finding bravery in numbers too big to ignore, and standing up for one another.”

[flamingdem]

7. Fingers crossed that her peers exhibit guts!

Seriously people are mired in fear over their careers.

Maybe they need a bit of history and encouragement.

[flamingdem]

6. Go Jane!

Admiration for all she does

Saw her in 1970 speaking against the VIetnam war with Tom Hayden.
She never quit!

[ananda]

8. Can you imagine needing a free speech group..

again?

We've come to this.

[Boomerproud]

10. KnR

You said it all. The fact that people are marching in the streets and the media acts like we have to go back to square one to win back the basic rights we've always taken for granted. I don't know what it's going to take to get young people to wake up in time.

[ananda]

13. Also boomer proud.

We remember how hard it was to win our rights,
and now it's even harder losing them.

And we've known holocaust survivors personally
for years. I love them so dearly, and I have
shown them my blue paper clip which means so
much.

And that paper clip extends to everyone targeted
for harm and destruction, no exceptions.

[Elessar Zappa]

9. We're definitely in a second McCarthy era!

[Cha]

17. Exponentially Worse...

[oasis]

11. Go Jane. You still have the spirit.

[MustLoveBeagles]

12. You go Jane!

Her father would be so proud.

[Ping Tung]

14. A great lady. k&R

Being arrested in 2019 during a climate change protest.

?resize=980

[Wednesdays]

15. K&R. nt

[GoodRaisin]

16. Kick

[LetMyPeopleVote]

18. MaddowBlog-Trump White House adds Jane Fonda to its growing list of celebrity targets

Whether Trump realizes this or not, the more he and his team try to fight celebrities, the smaller and more pitiful the White House appears.

Trump White House adds Jane Fonda to its growing list of celebrity targets www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— 𝙒𝙚𝙨 𝙍𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙡🦋📚 (@wesruss.bsky.social) 2025-10-02T16:24:53.275Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-white-house-adds-jane-fonda-growing-list-celebrity-targets-rcna235165

In 1947, as Republican Sen. Joe McCarthy helped fuel a notorious “red scare,” the Committee for the First Amendment was formed to push back against the tide. Academy Award winner Henry Fonda, a few years after his decorated World War II military service, was among the committee’s earliest and most prominent members.

Nearly eight decades later, his daughter is helping carry a very similar torch. The Associated Press reported:

Drawing upon her personal and political past, Jane Fonda has revived an activist group from the Cold War era that was backed by her father and fellow Oscar winner, Henry Fonda. Jane Fonda announced she had launched a 21st century incarnation of the Committee for the First Amendment, originally formed in 1947 in response to Congressional hearings aimed against screenwriters and directors — notably the so-called ‘Hollywood Ten’ — and their alleged Communist ties. Signers of the new organization’s mission statement include Florence Pugh, Sean Penn, Billie Eilish, Pedro Pascal and hundreds of others.

“I’m 87 years old. I’ve seen war, repression, protest, and backlash. I’ve been celebrated, and I’ve been branded an enemy of the state. But I can tell you this: this is the most frightening moment of my life,” Fonda wrote in a letter inviting her peers to join the re-established group. “When I feel scared, I look to history. I wish there were a secret playbook with all the answers — but there never has been. The only thing that has ever worked — time and time again — is solidarity: binding together, finding bravery in numbers too big to ignore, and standing up for one another.”......

In May, the president demanded investigations into Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey and Bono. A week earlier, when Trump was still in the midst of a Middle East trip, the Republican set aside some time to suggest that Taylor Swift is no longer “hot,” due entirely to his criticisms of the pop star.

Soon after, the White House took aim at “South Park,” as the president continued to rail against late-night comedians.

Whether Trump realizes this or not, the more he and his team try to fight celebrities, the more the White House appears small and pitiful. For all the effort Republicans invest in making the president out to be some powerful colossus, what we’re left with is a flailing man whose operation feels compelled to whine about actors, cartoons and late-night monologues.