Jane Fonda revives the first amendment committee with support of 550 Hollywood Stars

Veteran actor and activist Jane Fonda restored the committee for the first amendment -a movement originally founded in the 1940s by her father, Henry Fonda, during the McCarthy era to defend free speech. The revived initiative has already supported more than 550 high -profile names across Hollywood. Among them are Pedro Pascal, Viola Davis, Natalie Portman, Kerry Washington, John Legend, Barbra Streisand, Spike Lee, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Penn, Billie Eilish, Julianne Moore, Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller and Judd Apatow. According to Variety, the campaign comes back into the spotlight at a time when concerns about censorship and political pressure on entertainment persons. In a statement, Jane Fonda said: “The McCarthy era ended when Americans from all over the political spectrum finally came together and rose for the principles in the Constitution against the powers of oppression. She added that freedom of expression is fundamental: “We refuse to assist and make it happen. Free speech and free expression are the inalienable rights of every American of all backgrounds and political beliefs. The ability to criticize, question, protest and even mock is the foundation for what America has always wanted to be.” The issue of free speech in the entertainment industry has received renewed attention over the past few weeks. Late night host Jimmy Kimmel was briefly pulled off by ABC and his affiliate station operators, Sinclair and Nexstar, after making controversial remarks about conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The move came after FCC chairman Brendan Carr proposed a criminal action against broadcasters who did not reprimand Kimmel. Carr’s remarks – “We can do it the easy way or the hard way” – caused setback, although he later insisted that his words were hypothetically and claimed that Kimmel’s situation was linked to ratings, not federal pressure. Kimmel’s performance returned to ABC on September 22, with Sinclair and Nexstar to the pack shortly thereafter.