Jane Fonda Revives Hollywood Anti-Censorship Group Amidst Contemporary Free Speech Concerns
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Actress Jane Fonda has reactivated the First Amendment Committee,a Hollywood-based organization originally formed in 1947 to defend the rights of artists and writers against censorship and political repression. The revival comes as concerns mount over what Fonda and her fellow committee members perceive as a growing trend of attempts to silence dissenting voices across various sectors of American society.
The committee’s relaunch is a direct response to recent controversies, including calls for the firing of comedian Jimmy Kimmel following a joke about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, and broader anxieties about government and private sector efforts to suppress speech. “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,” the committee’s mission statement declares. “We refuse to stand by and let that happen. Free speech and free expression are the inalienable rights of every American…The ability to criticize, question, protest, and even mock those in power is foundational to what America has always aspired to be.”
The original First Amendment Committee was born during the height of the Cold War and the mccarthy era, when actors and filmmakers faced scrutiny and blacklisting for alleged Communist sympathies. Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda’s father, was among the group’s founding members, alongside Humphrey Bogart, John Huston, Lucille Ball, and Frank sinatra.The committee quickly became embroiled in controversy as some members, including Bogart, later expressed concerns about being manipulated by Communist organizations, and several individuals associated with the Hollywood Ten were revealed to have past ties to the Communist party.
Bogart himself later wrote an essay, “I’m No Communist,” published in Photoplay magazine in 1948, warning against being “used as dupes by Commie organizations.” The original committee’s lifespan was brief, dissolving as members faced accusations and the entertainment industry underwent widespread blacklisting, with many individuals barred from work through the end of the 1950s and beyond.
The Fonda’s both have long histories of activism; Jane Fonda is known for her opposition to the Vietnam War, while Henry Fonda was a prominent supporter of Democratic candidates like john F. Kennedy, appearing in a 1960 campaign ad for the future president. The committee’s revival signals a renewed commitment to defending free speech principles in a contemporary landscape where those principles are increasingly contested.
