Jane Fonda and hundreds of members of the entertainment industry have revived the Committee for the First Amendment, a free-expression group that was originally formed by Hollywood stars including her father, Henry Fonda, during the McCarthy era.
The original group was formed in 1947 to oppose the work of the House Un-American Activities Committee, whose investigations into the film industry led to the blacklist of actors, writers and directors who were suspected of Communist sympathies. The original Committee for the First Amendment included Mr. Fonda, Lucille Ball, Judy Garland, Humphrey Bogart, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and others who rallied to defend free expression.
In announcing the revival of the group, Ms. Fonda and the other new members recalled the “dark time when the federal government repressed and persecuted American citizens for their political beliefs” and warned that “those forces have returned.”
“The federal government is once again engaged in a coordinated campaign to silence critics in the government, the media, the judiciary, academia, and the entertainment industry,” they said in a statement, which was signed by Ms. Fonda, Spike Lee, Billie Eilish, Pedro Pascal and more than 800 others.
In a video posted on her social media account Wednesday night, Ms. Fonda, 87, said that she was heartened by the many people who had reached out seeking to be added to the committee. Still, she said, “We’re not looking to build an organization. We’re looking to grow a movement.”
She called for “creative, nonviolent noncooperation” and held up, as one example, the move by some to cancel their Disney+ subscriptions after the late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC.
“We’re artists, we’re creatives,” she said. “Freedom of expression is essential to what we do.”
Though the committee’s statement condemned the federal government, it did not explicitly mention President Trump or any member of his administration. The White House appeared to get the message nonetheless, issuing a statement that attacked Ms. Fonda and what they said were her “bad opinions.”
“As someone who actually knows what it’s like to be censored, President Trump is a strong supporter of free speech and Democrat allegations to the contrary are so false, they’re laughable,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement.
The New York Times wrote about the original Committee for the First Amendment when it was formed 78 years ago, in October 1947. At that time, the House committee was “conducting an inquiry into the degree of Communist infiltration in the film industry,” according to a Times report. Several actors had been summoned to Washington to testify.
Another group of actors formed the Committee for the First Amendment to oppose the inquiry. Twenty-five actors on the committee, including Mr. Bogart and John Huston, flew to Washington to protest the inquiry. A radio program that the group produced was broadcast nationwide.
Organizers of the renewed effort have posted the radio program online.
“Hollywood fights back!” a man intones to begin it.
Ms. Garland is the first of many stars to speak. “It’s one thing if someone says we’re not good actors. That hurts. But we can take that,” she said. “It’s something again to say we’re not good Americans. We resent that!”
Matt Stevens is a Times reporter who writes about arts and culture from Los Angeles.
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