Jane Fonda to host First Amendment celebration opposite Trump’s UFC event

LOS ANGELES – As mixed martial arts fighters gather on June 14 on the South Lawn of the White House in a cage match to celebrate President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday – a spectacle kicking off a series of events commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary – actress and activist Jane Fonda will sponsor entertainment of a different sort from New York City.

Fonda’s advocacy group, the Committee for the First Amendment, will host a concert featuring actors, musicians and public figures appearing in support of free speech and democracy – principles that have come under attack during Trump’s presidency, according to Fonda.

“This is our documentary moment,” Fonda told Reuters in an interview. “History is going to write about this, and I don’t want to be on the side of people who said, ‘Oh my God, things are so bad, what am I going to do?’ No. I want to be out in the front.”

The “Rise Up, Sing Out” concert, which begins at 7.30pm on June 14 (7.30am on June 15, Singapore time), will include performances or appearances by Julia Roberts, Lily Gladstone, Bette Midler, Patti Smith and Rufus Wainwright.

The event takes place at The Town Hall, a century-old landmark founded by suffragists, and will be available to watch via live streaming.

Fonda, 88, has a long history of activism, from working on behalf of Native Americans and the Black Panthers in the 1960s, to protesting the Vietnam War in the 1970s.

She earned the nickname “Hanoi Jane” following a visit to North Vietnam in 1972, though she would later express regret for a photo of her sitting on an anti-aircraft gun, wearing a helmet.

In recent years, the Oscar-winning actress has been involved in climate activism and has been arrested multiple times in connection with her “Fire Drill Fridays” protests in Washington.

A new documentary, Gaslit, which premieres on June 12, follows Fonda on a road trip through Texas and Louisiana to expose the environmental and health impacts of oil and gas extraction.

“Whole communities have been razed because we insist on drilling for oil and fracked methane gas that we’re shipping around the world, that is killing people and nature and animals, and it’s got to stop,” said Fonda, who blames the Trump administration for weakening environmental regulations.

Fonda has also called on federal and state regulators to block the proposed US$110 billion (S$141 billion) merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery.

She said that though she personally likes Paramount Skydance chief executive David Ellison, she is concerned about concessions he made to the Federal Communications Commission to win approval fir Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount.

“The lifeblood of creativity is going out the window in order to satisfy these autocrats in the White House,” she said.

Ellison has said the combined Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery would invest in quality content, releasing 30 movies a year, something that will benefit Hollywood’s creative class.

In October, Fonda revived the Committee for the First Amendment in response to a perceived rise in authoritarian practices and attacks on free speech. It was a group her father, actor Henry Fonda, formed in 1947 when Hollywood figures were called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

“We are the storytellers, we are the artists,” Fonda said. “Without the First Amendment, we can’t exist.” REUTERS