Jane Fonda Revives Hollywood โขAnti-Censorship Group Amidst Contemporary Free Speech Concerns
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Actress Jane Fonda has reactivated the โคFirst Amendment โฃCommittee,a Hollywood-based organization originally formed in 1947 to defend the rights of artistsโ and writers against censorship and political repression. The โคrevival comes asโฃ concernsโค mount over what โขFonda and her fellow โcommitteeโ members perceive as a growing trend of attempts to silence dissenting โคvoices across various sectors of American society.
The committee’s relaunch is โa directโ response to recent controversies, includingโค calls for the firing of comedian Jimmy Kimmel following a joke about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, and broaderโค anxieties about government and private sector โฃefforts to suppress speech. “The federal government is once โขagainโ engaged in a coordinated campaign to silence critics in the โฃgovernment, the media, โฃthe judiciary, โคacademia, and the entertainment โindustry,” the committee’s โขmission statement โขdeclares. “We refuse to stand by and let โฃthat happen. Free speech โคand free expression are the inalienable rights of every AmericanโฆThe ability โคto criticize, question, โคprotest, and even mock โthose inโฃ power is foundational to what Americaโฃ has alwaysโ aspired to โbe.”
The original First Amendment Committee was born during the โขheight of the Cold War and theโข mccarthy era, when actors and filmmakers โfaced scrutiny โandโข blacklisting for alleged Communist sympathies.โข Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda’s โfather, wasโค among the group’sโ foundingโค members, alongside Humphrey Bogart, โJohn โฃHuston, Lucille Ball,โ and Frank sinatra.The committee โขquickly became embroiled in controversy as some members, including Bogart, later โขexpressed concerns about being manipulatedโ by Communist organizations, and several individuals associated with the Hollywoodโข Ten were revealed to โhave past ties to the Communist party.
Bogart himself later wrote an essay, “I’m โคNo Communist,” โpublished 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 1950sโ and beyond.
Theโค Fonda’s both have โlong histories โof activism; Jane Fonda is known for herโ opposition to the Vietnam War, while Henryโค Fonda was a prominent supporter of Democratic candidatesโค like john F. โฃKennedy, โappearing in a 1960 campaign ad for the future president. The committee’s revivalโ signals a renewed commitment to defending free โspeechโ principles in a contemporary landscape where those principles are โขincreasingly contested.