2019-11-13 The Hollywood Reporter

About Town

People, Places, Preoccupations

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 27 NOVEMBER 13, 2019

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Jane Fonda and the

‘ Ticking, Existential

Time Bomb’ in D.C.

Jane Fonda protested climate change outside

the Capitol on Nov. 8, the first time in five weeks

of protest that she wasn’t arrested.

On her fifth week of climate protests, Fonda breaks her

streak of Friday arrests: ‘I have to be careful because

I have to begin Grace and Frankie in January’

By Seth Abramovitch

O

n Nov. 8, for the first

time since she began

her campaign protest-

ing climate change

more than four weeks ago in

Washington, D.C., Jane Fonda

managed to not get arrested. The

81-year-old actress-activist had

tempted fate again by marching

from the Capitol to the White

House with a group of 40 civil-

ian activists to form a human

chain outside the entrance for

two hours; the Secret Service

did not intervene, and no arrests

were made.

Since Oct. 11, the Grace and

Frankie star has spent 20 hours

behind bars, after being arrested

alongside such famous friends

as Sam Waterston and Rosanna

Arquette. Fonda relocated to

D.C. in September for the cam-

paign, dubbed Fire Drill Fridays

and hatched with Greenpeace

USA executive director Annie

Leonard, environmental activist

Bill McKibben and On Fire: The

(Burning) Case for a Green New

Deal author Naomi Klein.

The celebrity co-activists with

whom she did not get incarcer-

ated were Ben Cohen and Jerry

Epstein, founders of Ben & Jerry’s

Ice Cream. “They’ve focused on

cutting Pentagon budgets and

ending wars,” says Fonda, “and

so they wanted to come down

to speak at Fire Drill Friday

focusing on military, war and

climate change.”

She has vowed to keep going

until January, but also is mind-

ful of her filming schedule: “I

have to be careful not to get to a

point where they’re going to keep

me for 90 days, because I have

to begin preparing for Grace and

Frankie in January. They give you

three warnings, and so I will step

away at the third warning.” Fonda

shares highlights of her protest

campaign so far.

How do you choose who will be by

your side at these protests?

I ask my celebrity friends. Like

[two] week[s ago], Catherine

Keener and Rosanna Arquette

were there. Te d D a n s o n has long

been an activist and advocate

on oceans, and so I specifically

invited him to come for oceans.

Bobby Kennedy Jr. I was hoping

could come for water because he

started Riverkeeper. Lily Tomlin

will be coming down, but I don’t

know exactly when. [Civil rights

leaders] the Rev. William Barber,

Dolores Huerta and others are

coming down on Dec. 20 for my

birthday. Diane Lane is coming

down for the freshwater one.

SOCIAL ACTION