Jane Fonda is relaunching the Committee for the First Amendment, the McCarthy-era committee founded by her father Henry Fonda with such stars as Lucille Ball, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall to protect against attacks on free speech.<\/p>\n
Fonda\u2019s new iteration already has the support of more than 550 boldface including Barbra Streisand, Kerry Washginton, Natalie Portman, Aaron Sorkin, Spike Lee, Viola Davis, Pedro Pascal, Gracie Abrams, Ben Stiller, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Penn, John Legend, Julianne Moore, Janelle Monae, Issa Rae, Adam McKay, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ethan Hawke, Quinta Brunson, Judd Apatow, Billie Eillish, Anjelica Huston, Rosie O\u2019Donnell, Helen Mirren, Patty Jenkins, Damon Lindelof, Fran Drescher and Ted Danson, among others.<\/p>\n
More from Deadline<\/strong><\/p>\n Find the full list of signees here<\/a>.<\/p>\n In its first statement, released today, the Committee writes, \u201cThis Committee was initially created during the McCarthy Era, a dark time when the federal government repressed and persecuted American citizens for their political beliefs. They targeted elected officials, government employees, academics, and artists. They were blacklisted, harassed, silenced, and even imprisoned\u2026.Those forces have returned. And it is our turn to stand together in defense of our constitutional rights.\u201d<\/p>\n The statement also called out corporate capitulation, in the wake of Disney\u2019s decision to pull, the reinstate, Jimmy Kimmel following a warning from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. The committee wrote that \u201cto those who profit from our work while threatening the livelihoods of everyday working people, bowing to government censorship, and cowering to brute intimidation: we see you and history will not forget. This will not be the last you hear from us.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the full statement below.<\/p>\n \u201cThe federal government is once again engaged in a coordinated campaign to silence critics in the government, the media, the judiciary, academia, and the entertainment industry,\u201d the Committee statement reads. \u201cWe refuse to stand by and let that happen. Free speech and free expression are the inalienable rights of every American of all backgrounds and political beliefs \u2013 no matter how liberal or conservative you may be. The ability to criticize, question, protest, and even mock those in power is foundational to what America has always aspired to be.\u201d<\/p>\n The Committee also released the committee invitation letter written by Fonda. It begins:<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m 87 years old. I\u2019ve seen war, repression, protest, and backlash. I\u2019ve been celebrated, and I\u2019ve been branded an enemy of the state. But I can tell you this: this is the most frightening moment of my life. When I feel scared, I look to history. I wish there were a secret playbook with all the answers\u2014but there never has been. The only thing that has ever worked\u2014time and time again\u2014is solidarity: binding together, finding bravery in numbers too big to ignore, and standing up for one another.\u201d<\/p>\n Fonda continues, \u201cI\u2019m asking you to join me by adding your name to a joint statement with fellow artists and creators, which will be shared publicly soon. The stakes are too high, and silence is too costly. This statement is the Committee\u2019s first act. Signing on to it does not commit you to anything other than the values espoused in the statement. That said, speaking out together is our foundation\u2014and the principle we will return to as we shape what comes next.\u201d<\/p>\n Below, read the invitation letter and the Committee statement in full:<\/p>\n INVITATION TO JOIN<\/strong><\/p>\n Dear Friend,<\/p>\n I\u2019m 87 years old. I\u2019ve seen war, repression, protest, and backlash. I\u2019ve been celebrated, and I\u2019ve been branded an enemy of the state. But I can tell you this: this is the most frightening moment of my life. When I feel scared, I look to history. I wish there were a secret playbook with all the answers\u2014but there never has been. The only thing that has ever worked\u2014time and time again\u2014is solidarity: binding together, finding bravery in numbers too big to ignore, and standing up for one another.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why I believe the time is now to relaunch the Committee for the First Amendment\u2014the same Committee my father, Henry Fonda, joined with other artists during the McCarthy era, when so many were silenced or even imprisoned simply for their words and their craft.<\/p>\n I\u2019m asking you to join me by adding your name to a joint statement with fellow artists and creators, which will be shared publicly soon. The stakes are too high, and silence is too costly. This statement is the Committee\u2019s first act. Signing on to it does not commit you to anything other than the values espoused in the statement. That said, speaking out together is our foundation\u2014and the principle we will return to as we shape what comes next.<\/p>\n I hope you\u2019ll stand with me now. They\u2019re betting on our fear and our silence. But our industry\u2014and artists around the world\u2014have a long history of refusing to be silenced, even in the darkest times. We face a powerful assault today, but we still have our voices, each other, and the freedom to express ourselves. Let\u2019s speak out before it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n With gratitude, COMMITTEE STATEMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n Today, we relaunch the Committee for the First Amendment.<\/p>\n This Committee was initially created during the McCarthy Era, a dark time when the federal government repressed and persecuted American citizens for their political beliefs. They targeted elected officials, government employees, academics, and artists. They were blacklisted, harassed, silenced, and even imprisoned.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Those forces have returned. And it is our turn to stand together in defense of our constitutional rights. We refuse to stand by and let that happen. Free speech and free expression are the inalienable rights of every American of all backgrounds and political beliefs \u2013 no matter how liberal or conservative you may be. The ability to criticize, question, protest, and even mock those in power is foundational to what America has always aspired to be.<\/p>\n We understand that this is a frightening and confusing moment for many people. We recognize that we represent just one group of many who are under threat right now. Across classrooms, libraries, factories, companies and workplaces of all kinds, Americans of every walk of life are facing intimidation and censorship too \u2014 and we stand with them.<\/p>\n We know there is power in solidarity and strength in numbers. We will stand together\u2014fiercely united\u2014to defend free speech and expression from this assault. This is not a partisan issue. That is why we urge every American who cares about the First Amendment\u2014the cornerstone of our democracy\u2014and every artist around the globe who looks to the United States as a beacon of freedom to join us.<\/p>\n And to those who profit from our work while threatening the livelihoods of everyday working people, bowing to government censorship, and cowering to brute intimidation: we see you and history will not forget. This will not be the last you hear from us.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Best of Deadline<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Deadline’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jane Fonda is relaunching the Committee for the First Amendment, the McCarthy-era committee founded by her father Henry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473085,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3940],"tags":[55391,11914,4080,77,6929,103893,43339,157328,157327,69806,157331,157329,157330,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-473084","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-barbra-streisand","9":"tag-ben-stiller","10":"tag-celebrities","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-federal-government","13":"tag-first-amendment","14":"tag-free-speech","15":"tag-henry-fonda","16":"tag-jane-fonda","17":"tag-lucille-ball","18":"tag-mccarthy-era","19":"tag-political-beliefs","20":"tag-the-committee","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115314827417795193","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473084\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Jane<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
The federal government is once again engaged in a coordinated campaign to silence critics in the government, the media, the judiciary, academia, and the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n