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1972 Academy Awards
In 1972, at the 44th Academy Awards, Jane Fonda won Best Actress for her performance in “Klute.” By this time, Fonda was no stranger to speaking out, especially about the Vietnam War, and had been arrested just two years before for drug trafficking — a charge that was later dropped when the so-called drugs were discovered to only be vitamins. It seems the arrest had more to do with trying to silence Fonda than anything else.
When Fonda’s name was called as the winner of the category, she took the stage and said so much in very few words. After thanking the Academy, Fonda said, “There’s a great deal to say, and I’m not going to say it tonight.” Of course, Fonda was referencing the Vietnam War, which by 1972, the United States had been heavily involved in for almost 18 years. “And then I walked off the stage, and I went in a corner backstage and cried,” Fonda told author Dave Karger for his book, “50 Oscar Nights” (via People), adding that she was also sick with the flu and her father had advised her not to say anything controversial. “I was crying because of relief, because I said what I had to say, and I’d gotten off the stage, and nobody had booed,” she told Karger. “But I also cried because my dad had never won an Oscar, and it just seemed wrong.”
Fonda’s speech was still deemed controversial by some. As for her dad, Henry Fonda, he won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1982, at the 54th Academy Awards, for his role in “On Golden Pond.”
1979 Academy Awards
In 1979, at the 51st Academy Awards, Jane Fonda won the Oscar for Best Actress in the film “Coming Home.” Although the movie is centered around Fonda’s character, Sally, and her relationship with a paralyzed Vietnam vet, Luke, it’s about the wounded soldiers who came back to the U.S. and didn’t have the proper resources to help them navigate their trauma more than anything else.
When Fonda accepted the award, she did so using sign language. As she said and signed in her speech that not only was it so important to her that the film win due to its subject matter, but also that the making of the movie was a learning experience for all involved. “I’m signing part of what I’m saying tonight because, while we were making the movie, we all became more aware of the problems of the handicapped,” said Fonda. “Over 14 million people are deaf. They are the invisible handicapped and can’t share this evening, so this is my way of acknowledging them.”
Because closed captions weren’t available until 1980, Fonda signing her speech was a big step toward inclusivity. In 1982, technology had advanced enough so the National Captioning Institute was able to develop real-time captioning, which was used at that year’s Oscars.
2019 British Academy Film Awards
If anyone is going to accept an award while getting arrested, it’s our beloved sustainable fashion icon Jane Fonda. In 2019, Fonda participated in the weekly Fire Drill Fridays, an organization that demands action for the climate crisis. And every Friday, she’d get arrested. During one of her arrests, she thanked the BAFTAs for the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film, adding that she was very honored and sorry she wasn’t there to accept the award — all while being cuffed by police.
During the actual award ceremony, a video of Fonda played where she thanked the BAFTAs again while sitting on a couch with a Fire Drill Fridays flag behind her. In her acceptance speech, she explained that she had moved to D.C. to become more involved in the climate change protests and to “heighten the sense of urgency that there needs to be … This is a crisis. Not just here but all over the world.” Fonda was arrested five times in 2019 for her participation in the Fire Drill Fridays, spending one night in jail.
In her 2020 memoir, “What Can I Do?: My Path from Climate Despair to Action,” Fonda detailed her 2019 experiences. Noticing the huge disparity between her treatment in jail versus that of people of color, Fonda wrote about how the climate crisis will ultimately worsen conditions for vulnerable communities: “Will we ever be able to get our country to do better at providing social services and proper mental health care? It is something worth fighting for. I couldn’t help thinking how all these problems will only be exacerbated as the climate emergency worsens — jobs, health care, services will all be impacted.”
2021 Golden Globes
Just two years after thanking the BAFTAs while rocking handcuffs, Jane Fonda was given the Cecille B. DeMille Award during the 78th Golden Globe Awards. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and the fact that vaccinations hadn’t been entirely rolled out, award nominees, recipients, and presenters were scattered across the globe, with many tuning in via video from the comforts of their homes.
During her speech, Fonda took the opportunity to address the fragility of life and the fact that if COVID-19 taught us anything, it’s that we’re all human and have our own set of obstacles and vulnerabilities because of our humanity. Fonda pointed out that everyone has a story and that, as actors, they’re storytellers and it’s important that not one type of story is lifted more than others. Instead, everyone should have a seat at the table and the opportunity to share their story.
“So let’s all of us — including all the groups that decide who gets hired and what gets made and who wins awards — let’s all of us make an effort to expand that tent,” said Fonda. “So that everyone rises and everyone’s story has a chance to be seen and heard. I mean, doing this simply means acknowledging what’s true. Being in step with the emerging diversity that’s happening because of all those who marched and fought in the past and those who’ve picked up the baton today. After all, art has always been not just in step with history but has led the way. So, let’s be leaders, okay?” Fonda concluded by thanking everyone again. It’s definitely emotional, so you’ll want tissues on hand before watching it.
2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards
Because making people ugly cry is apparently Jane Fonda’s M.O. when giving a speech, during the 31st SAG Awards in February 2025, she did it again. Fonda was given the Lifetime Achievement Award, and her acceptance speech was a whole boatload of emotions. She didn’t just talk about her long career but how necessary empathy is to acting. “Empathy is not weak or ‘woke,'” said Fonda. “‘Woke’ just means you give a damn about other people.”
At this point, Fonda went all in, clearly referencing the draconian policies that the second Trump administration had already imposed. “A whole lot of people are going to be really hurt by what is happening, what is coming our way … We need to call upon our empathy and not judge, but listen from our hearts and welcome them into our tent, because we are going to need a big tent to resist successfully what’s coming at us,” said Fonda, before moving on to talk about McCarthyism, its impact on Hollywood, and how the industry stuck together and fought back. She explained that we, all of us, are in our documentary moment, and it’s not a rehearsal. “This is it,” said Fonda. “And we mustn’t for a moment kid ourselves about what’s happening. This is big-time serious, folks. So let’s be brave.”
Fonda concluded her speech with a Pearl Cleage quote that pretty much leveled everyone watching. “On the other side of the conflagration, there will still be love. There will still be beauty. And there will be an ocean of truth for us to swim in,” said Fonda. Let’s hope she’s right.
