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Jane Fonda's SAG Awards Speech: 'Empathy Is Not Weak or Woke'

Jane Fondas SAG Awards Speech Empathy Is Not Weak or Woke
While some stars have been less politically outspoken this awards season, she issued a call to action as she accepted a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild.

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Jane Fonda Says ‘Empathy Is Not Weak or Woke’ at the SAG Awards

While some stars have been less politically outspoken this awards season, she issued a call to action as she accepted a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild.

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A woman with gray hair and a sparkly gown with a wavy black pattern stands at a microphone with a fist raised over her head.
“Woke just means you give a damn about other people,” Jane Fonda said during a rousing speech at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.Credit...Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
Feb. 24, 2025, 2:32 p.m. ET

Jane Fonda, who has been politically outspoken since the Vietnam War era, urged people “to resist successfully what is coming at us” as she accepted a lifetime achievement award Sunday night during the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

“Make no mistake, empathy is not weak or woke,” said Fonda, 87. “And by the way, woke just means you give a damn about other people.”

She never explicitly mentioned President Trump or his administration, but she seemed to allude to them as she warned of bad things to come.

“A whole lot of people are going to be really hurt by what is happening, what is coming our way,” Fonda said. “Even if they are 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 is coming at us.”

Fonda, a two-time Academy Award winner, has long been known for political activism, particularly her support for the civil rights movement and Indigenous rights and for her opposition to the Vietnam War. A 1972 visit to North Vietnam led some critics to call her “Hanoi Jane”; she has since apologized to soldiers and veterans for being photographed there on an antiaircraft gun. In more recent years, she has fought to draw attention to the climate crisis.

In her acceptance speech, she expressed her strong support for unions and noted that when she was starting out in the late 1950s, some leading Hollywood figures had been prominently resisting McCarthyism. She also said that she believes Americans are currently facing the same kinds of challenges that have been captured in historical documentaries about social movements, including apartheid, the civil rights movement and the Stonewall Rebellion.

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