Nearly 80 years after McCarthyism, Jane Fonda relaunches Committee for the First Amendment: ‘The stakes are too high’

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/01/entertainment/jane-fonda-relaunches-committee-first-amendment?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit

21 comments

  1. Eight decades after Hollywood legends like Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland launched the Committee for the First Amendment to stand up to McCarthyism, Jane Fonda is bringing back the organization at a time she calls “the most frightening moment of my life.”

    The younger Fonda issued a plea to her Hollywood community in a letter shared with CNN, asking her peers to join the relaunched committee, writing, “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.”

    More than 550 Hollywood figures have joined Fonda’s fight, adding their names as supporters of her newly relaunched committee.

    The Committee for the First Amendment was first created in 1947 during the McCarthy Era in an effort to defend free speech and oppose government activity. 

  3. The same B who betrayed US prisoners and got them beaten is claiming the moral high ground?

  4. She will be as effective as she always has been. In other words, useless.

  6. Jane is a traitor Was a traitor, is a traitor and will always be a traitor. She should leave the country or be imprisoned.

  7. No one on the left or democrats defended Trump when Twitter banned him. Freedom of speech is protection from the govt jailed/killing you for your speech, not you can’t be fired for the dumb shit you say.

  8. I just read Myna Loy’s biography, she was a founding member the first time around. Eerie how history repeats itself.

  9. I’ve been wondering when she’d join this conversation. Took her long enough!

  10. I genuinely like jane fonda but how is this the most frightening moment of your life when you went to Hanoi In the middle of a fucking war ? And even went to the less hellish but still targeted by air strikes and artillery pow camps? 

  15. Yep, the Republicans really can’t wait to hear what Jane Fonda has to say

  16. It never went away. The powers that be have been harping about China and Russia and communism and socialism and foreign enemies my entire life as a millennial.

    Meanwhile all I’ve seen on the home front is perpetual grinding decay

  17. Fonda’s initial statements during and after the 1972 trip

    Praised humane treatment: At a press conference with American POWs, which took place under the supervision of North Vietnamese officials, Fonda reported that the prisoners appeared well. Based on this observation, she returned to the United States and stated that the prisoners were being treated humanely.

    Dismissed torture claims: In a 1973 interview on KNBC-TV, Fonda elaborated on her belief that returning POWs were exaggerating or lying about being tortured. She suggested that the pilots claiming systematic torture were “hawks” and “balding careerists”.

    Justified individual torture: Fonda distinguished between systematic torture and individual incidents, stating that if a prisoner tried to escape, “it is quite understandable that he would probably be beaten and tortured”. She also speculated that some pilots “were probably beaten to death by the people whose homes and families they were bombing and napalming”.

    Accused the Pentagon of a lie: At a UCSF gathering in 1973, Fonda suggested that the Pentagon was orchestrating the stories of torture to paint the Vietnamese as “bloodthirsty and brutal” and to prevent aid to Vietnam.
    Accusations made by POWs

    The POWs who returned from North Vietnam reported that Fonda’s actions had a negative effect on them and were used for propaganda.

    Participated in propaganda: According to the Defense Technical Information Center, the North Vietnamese used Fonda’s anti-war broadcasts on Radio Hanoi to demoralize American troops.
    Escalated punishments: In a sworn affidavit submitted for a 2005 article, a former POW stated that he was severely beaten for initially refusing to meet with Fonda during her visit.

    Fonda dismissed evidence of torture: One former POW reported that after seeing injuries from torture, Fonda insisted that any prisoner who claimed torture was a liar.

  19. How cute Hanoi Jane wants free speech in this side of Pacific.

  20. I love this. As someone who loves old movies and is always on Wikipedia/imdb/letterboxd while watching and reading all the bios—McCarthyism hurt so many people. Devastated them. Ruined careers and drove people to poverty and early graves. This is a great move and also will boost morale.

  21. Hanoi Hannah still thinks she’s relevant? Hilarious!

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