Jane Fonda refuses to be 'Gaslit;' fears for ex Ted Turner's CNN
"We have to at least throw sand in their gears," Fonda says of the possible impact the WB-Paramount merger will have on CNN, founded by her ex, Ted Turner.
Bryan Alexander- Jane Fonda stars in and executive produces the new Greenpeace documentary "Gaslit."
- The film follows Fonda as she travels across Texas and Louisiana to highlight the dangers of the fossil fuel industry.
LOS ANGELES – Looking out across sprawling Los Angeles, Jane Fonda seems struck by the realization that the industry town is home.
After growing up in the film mecca, Fonda, 88, decamped to places as wide-ranging as Atlanta and Paris only to return to Century City near the historic Fox Studio Lot, where her legendary father, Henry Fonda, once worked under contract. The two-time Oscar winner still chuckles wryly at the idea of living in the movie-town enclave, which is close to her son, "Barbershop" franchise actor Troy Garrity.
"I never thought this would be my 'hood. My first thought to my son was, 'I don't want to live in a gated community with a bunch of old farts,'" Fonda says, laughing. "And then I found out, I'm the oldest one there."
That may be true. But there's no danger of Fonda ever becoming a dreaded "old fart." The octogenarian actress remains as jam-packed busy and on the go and outspoken as ever, starring in and executive producing the Greenpeace documentary "Gaslit" (expanding its theatrical release on June 26), the latest chapter in a nearly six-decade-long campaign of advocacy and activism.
Fonda is in high gear promoting the documentary about the dangers of the fossil fuel industry, which follows her traveling by SUV across Texas and Louisiana – emerging daily from roadside motels to amplify the stories of communities direly affected by industrial emissions and the environmental toll of oil and natural gas production.
"Why would I slow down? I'm blessed to be able to use my voice and influence," Fonda says. "I'd be depressed if I wasn't getting the word out, knowing what I know."
Fonda celebrates five DC arrests: 'Liberating'
"Gaslit" kicks off with a vintage Fonda clip from a 1980 Houston TV interview, which features the young “9 to 5” movie star speaking about the importance of grassroots efforts over politicians to make real change. The documentary emerged from Fonda and Greenpeace's Fire Drill Fridays, which saw the activist getting arrested five times in 2019 Washington, DC, climate protests. The arrests included memorably spending her 82nd birthday in jail.
"There's nothing more liberating than being arrested for civil disobedience. Your whole body is aligned with your deepest values," says Fonda, who says she has no regrets about celebrating that milestone in a cell with "a lot of cockroaches. I just knew if I spent my 82nd birthday there, it would get a lot of attention. And it did."
"Gaslit" director Katie Camosy met Fonda when filming the arrests for Greenpeace, and the road-trip doc emerged as a way to drill deeper into the on-the-ground storytelling. Shot over three weeks on the road in 2024, Fonda was not just the star, but a collaborator who joined fellow documentary guest travelers, such as songwriter Maggie Rogers or "Friday Night Lights" alum Connie Britton, in the tour.
"Jane Fonda always looked like Jane Fonda. And, actually, she did her own hair and make-up. She's surprisingly low maintenance," Camosy says. "This wasn't a glam film shoot. We needed a bathroom break in the field, and Jane just said, 'I'll just use this porta-potty. We have to keep shooting.' She was just one of the team."
Since making the film, Fonda has suffered two high-profile personal losses. Environmentalist, friend and actor Robert Redford, who starred in four films with Fonda, died in September at age 89. "I still miss him," Fonda says.
CNN founder and philanthropist Ted Turner, Fonda's third and "favorite ex-husband," died in May at 87. Turner's impact on his unlikely partner of 10 years comes through during a "Gaslit" scene where Fonda works up a crowd, telling them that oil company execs "don't give a fuzzy rat's ass about you!"
"I picked that phrase up from Ted. He had such great expressions," says Fonda, going into an impression of Turner's Georgia accent. "He had great ones, phrases like, 'You look lower than a pregnant duck,' or 'fuzzy rat's ass.' I don't even think about it. I don't like cuss words, but they do come out of my mouth sometimes."
Ex Ted Turner would be 'so unhappy' about possible WB-Paramount merger
Since Turner's death, Fonda has become increasingly concerned about the media mogul's crown jewel, the once-revolutionary 24-hour news network CNN, which he founded. Fonda echoes the fear that if (or when) the Warner Bros. Discovery-Paramount Skydance merger is finalized, CBS News' controversial editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, currently exercising controversial control over "60 Minutes," could oversee CNN operations.
"That CNN could come under the control of Bari Weiss breaks my heart, especially now that Ted's gone and can't defend himself," says Fonda, who urges fellow skeptics to fight the deal spearheaded by Skydance founder David Ellison and his billionaire father, President Trump ally Larry Ellison. "We have to try to slow [the merger deal] down, if not stop it. We have to at least throw sand in their gears. Media consolidation does not help democracy, for sure."
Turner was a huge proponent of independent media, "and CNN was his prize," says Fonda. "He would be so unhappy with what could be happening right now."
Fonda's short-term goals include helping the Democrats take control of Congress in the upcoming November mid-term elections to restart a "wonderful, true, multiracial democracy." She believes that will spur Congress to start addressing the climate crisis.
"We have two crises simultaneously happening – democracy and the climate," says Fonda. "They're interconnected. But I think we can turn the tide. The zeitgeist is changing."
Following her divorce from Turner in 2001, and after living with "my lover," music producer Richard Perry, in their Beverly Hills home until 2017, Fonda needed that new abode. After an arduous search, the airy, Los Angeles location near her family instantly became her spiritual home.
"It's a great comfort knowing, when you're my age, that where you are is where you will be at the end," Fonda says. "It felt safe. I walked in there and knew, this is where I'm supposed to die."