Jane Fonda Says Being 'White and Famous' Helped Her During Arrest and Prison Time

Lina Portman3 days ago

0 3 minutes read

Jane Fonda speaks openly about the differential treatment she allegedly received during one of her arrests in 2019 because she is “white and famous.”

The Oscar winner spoke with her “Cheers” co-stars and longtime friends Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson on their new podcast “Where Everybody Knows Your Name” about her arrest and imprisonment in December 2019 in Washington, D.C. during a climate change march.

“We’re white and famous and we’ll never really know what it’s like to be black in this country or brown,” she said of her arrest and incarceration.

When Danson added that “most people in this world, especially people of color, are arrested in a different way,” the human rights advocate had a fitting response.

Jane Fonda turns 82 with 5th arrest at climate change protest

“But there's something very liberating about engaging in civil disobedience. It's like putting your whole body on the line, where your deepest values lie, and you don't get to do that very often in life,” said Fonda, now 86.

She continued: “Even though we're treated well once we get there because they don't want to make a fuss because we're white and famous, it's still, like you said, important and I thought, because I turned 82, the fifth time I got arrested, they put me in jail.”

When Danson asked her about her time in prison in Washington, Fonda again explained how it was different because of her celebrity.

“Well, again, I'm white and I'm famous, and so actually, there was a woman who was posted outside, a guard, in front of my cell and I was like, 'Well, this is interesting. I'm in prison.' … Why is there a guard there?'” Fonda told the co-hosts, adding that “it was very clear why I was being watched.”

In 2019, the activist was arrested multiple times for protesting climate change, including with “The Good Place” alum Danson in October of that year. She previously wrote about the Fire Drill Fridays protests, including her arrests, in her book “What Can I Do?: My Path from Climate Despair to Action.”

Fonda launched the Fire Drill Fridays initiative in 2019 with environmental advocacy group Greenpeace and other environmental activism allies to protest every Friday in the streets of the nation's capital.

These protests culminated in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience. Many people, including celebrities, were arrested to draw attention to the climate crisis.

Fonda also said she believes some of her fellow inmates should be placed in mental health facilities rather than incarcerated in prison, underscoring a common narrative among criminal justice advocates.

“Psychotic breakdowns happen and men are screaming and yelling and banging on doors, and you realize they should be in a different type of place, like a mental health facility. They shouldn't be in prison,” she said.

Jane Fonda Says She Was 'The Only White Person' In Prison And Fellow Inmates 'Didn't Care At All' Who She Was

The “Book Club” actress added that she “was the only white person there and then in the morning I ended up being put somewhere else with a lot of other prisoners, black women,” calling the experience “really interesting.”

And the “Grace & Frankie” alum's fellow inmates weren't impressed by her lengthy resume, which includes two Oscars – with the exception of a 2005 film with another Hollywood heavyweight.

Jane Fonda Avoids Fifth Arrest at a climate change protest in Washington

“They didn't care who I was. They had much more important things to think about and none of them had seen any of my movies. They had seen 'Monster-in-Law,'” Fonda told Danson and Harrelson. “I pulled out this card and they were slightly impressed, but not really.”

Contributions: Rasha Ali, Andrea Mandell

Jane Fonda Says She Was 'The Only White Person' In Prison And Fellow Inmates 'Didn't Care At All' Who She Was

Lina Portman

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