Hollywood icon Jane Fonda hit out at 'traumatised person' Donald Trump during a speech while accepting the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award. The 87-year-old actress and activist didn't mention the convicted felon and US president by name when she hit out at the administration. During her thinly-veiled dig, she said “a lot of people are going to be hurt by what’s coming our way" before warning the audience "we must not isolate, we must stay in community, we must help the vulnerable.".
Fonda was on stage accepting the award at the 31st annual SAG Awards, which took place at the Shrine in Los Angeles on Sunday evening. She praised actor Sebastian Stan, who plays the felon in The Apprentice, and said: "Though you may hate the behaviour of your character, you have to understand and empathize with the traumatized person you’re playing.".
Jane, who is known for years of activism, added: "Empathy is not weak or ‘woke.’ And, by the way, ‘woke’ just means you give a damn about other people. A whole lot of people are going to be really hurt by what is happening, what is coming our way. And even if they are of different persuasion we need to call upon our empathy and listen with our hearts and welcome them into our tent.
"Because we are going to need a big tent to resist successfully what is coming at us. We are in our documentary moment. We mustn't for a moment kid ourselves about what is happening…We must not isolate, we must stay in community, we must help the vulnerable. We must find ways to project an inspiriting vision of the future.”.
Earlier in her speech, Jane - who was given the award by Julia Louis-Dreyfus - reflected on her " weird " career and joked she'll be doing her "own stunts" in her 90s. She said: “This means the world to me, you can't know. Thank you SAG-AFTRA. And your enthusiasm makes this seem, I don't know, less like a twilight of my life and more like a ‘go girl, kick ass — which is good because I’m not done.'.
"I have had a really weird career, totally unstrageic. I retired for 15 years then came back at 65 which is not usual, I made one of my most successful movies in my 80s and probably in my 90s I'll be doing my own stunts in an action movie. Have you ever heard the phrase, it's ok to be a late bloomer as long as you don't miss the flower show. I'm a late bloomer, this is the flower show.".
