Listen To Story Above
Jane Fonda caused controversy at the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards during her Life Achievement Award acceptance speech, where she used the platform to express political views and criticize conservative policies.
The 87-year-old actress centered her speech around the concept of empathy, attempting to redefine contentious political terminology. During her remarks, she sought to reframe the meaning of “woke,” a term that has become increasingly divisive in American political discourse.
“What we, actors, create is empathy. Our job is to understand another human being so profoundly that we can touch their souls,” said Fonda.
“And make no mistake, empathy is not weak or woke. By the way, woke just means you give a damn about other people,” she added.
Jane Fonda thinks woke means you “give a damn about people.”
Hey Hanoi Jane, did you “give a damn” about the American servicemen you betrayed in Vietnam?
Woke is just communist propaganda, so I'm not surprised that Jane proudly identifies with it.pic.twitter.com/TykY4CUyql
— Scarlett Johnson (@scarlett4kids) February 24, 2025
The veteran actress then directed criticism toward President Trump, referencing Sebastian Stan’s portrayal of him in The Apprentice Movie.
“I’m sure many of you have played bullies and misogynists,” she stated, before continuing with pointed remarks about Trump’s character. “You can pretty much recognize these types of actors—you know, the ones whose fathers probably bullied them and called men they felt were weak losers or pussies. While you may hate the behavior of your character, you have to understand and empathize with the traumatized person you’re playing, right? Thinking about Sebastian Stan and The Apprentice.”
Fonda proceeded to issue what appeared to be a political warning, suggesting challenging times ahead. “Back to empathy. A whole lot of people are going to be really hurt by what is happening, what is coming our way. Even if they’re of a different political persuasion, 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.”
https://twitter.com/ginamilan_/status/1891594416210493856
The speech took an even more political turn when Fonda drew parallels between contemporary activism and historical civil rights movements. She questioned her audience about their theoretical participation in such movements: “Have any of you ever watched a documentary of one of the great social movements, like a Apartheid or our civil rights movement or Stonewall and asked yourself, would you have been brave enough to walk the bridge? Would you have been able to take the hoses and the batons and the dogs? We don’t have to wonder anymore because we are in our documentary moment.”
This comparison between modern political activism and historical civil rights movements sparked particular criticism, especially given Fonda’s privileged position in Hollywood and her history of controversial political stances.
