While accepting the Life Achievement Award, the legendary actor and activist delivered a fiery speech entreating her fellow celebrities to stand with the marginalized in organizing against the horrors brought by Donald Trump.
Without once mentioning the president by name during her eight-minute speech, Fonda encouraged her peers to foster empathy, likening it the experience of an actor portraying a person they revile. In a move that made me personally cheer from my couch, she offered Sebastian Stan‘s role as Trump in The Apprentice as an example. (And given that Hollywood’s been a bit gun-shy about the film—remember when Stan said that he hadn’t done Variety‘s “Actors on Actors” series because publicists were too chicken?—the name drop in this particular room felt deliciously petty.)
“Make no mistake, empathy is not weak or woke,” Fonda said. “And, by the way, woke just means you give a damn about other people.” (Even though she slightly contradicted herself here, big ups to her for reminding us what “woke” meant before the right-wing hate machine got ahold of it.)
Long a supporter of organized labor, Fonda said, “I’m a big believer in unions—they have our backs. They bring us into community and they give us power.”
But she warned against apathy during Trump 2.0: “This is it, and it’s not a rehearsal. And we mustn’t for a moment kid ourselves about what is happening. This is big-time serious. We must not isolate.”
None of these sentiments were a surprise given the source—but because most celebrities partaking in award show season have thus far skirted any mention of the issues on the average American’s mind (Hunter Schafer not included) it’s still a welcome sound.
Thank you, Hanoi Jane!
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