Jane Fonda slammed for call to arms against Trump in SAG Life Achievement Award speech: 'She's washed-up'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jane Fonda didn't hold back during her SAG Life Achievement Award speech Sunday night, February 23.

At 87 years old, the Hollywood icon took the stage and turned what should have been a celebration of her career into a long-winded diatribe about President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

Jane Fonda’s not-so-subtle attack on Donald Trump

Jane Fonda—who earned the nickname “Hanoi Jane” decades ago for her controversial Vietnam War protests—is no stranger to making brazen political statements. This time she fired off a call to arms against Trump’s America, likening today’s climate to pivotal moments in history like Stonewall and the March on Selma, the Daily Mail reported.

She defended "wokeness," implying that Trump’s administration was riddled with bullies—a sentiment she subtly reinforced by praising Sebastian Stan’s portrayal of a young Trump in 'The Apprentice'.

Fonda called Trump a “traumatized person” and suggested that actors can tap into such characters through empathy (a skill Stan allegedly had to use while researching the role). "Practicing empathy is not weak or woke," she insisted, adding, "Woke just means you give a damn about other people."

Despite the jabs, Fonda encouraged liberals to reach out to Trump voters. According to her, they were bound to get hurt by his policies too.

“A whole lot of people are gonna be really hurt by what is happening, what is coming our way,” she warned, adding, “And 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 gonna need a big tent to resist successfully what's coming at us."

She took things a step further, demanding that Hollywood fight Trump just like they fought McCarthyism in the 1950s. “I made my first movie in 1958. It was at the tail end of McCarthyism when so many careers were destroyed. Today, it's helpful to remember, though, that Hollywood resisted," she recalled.

In case anyone forgot, Fonda’s been an activist for decades. "Acting gave me a chance to play angry women with opinions, which, you know, is a bit of a stretch for me," she quipped.

Jane Fonda is still fighting the fight

If anyone thought Jane Fonda was slowing down, think again. She made it clear that she’s still very much in the fight—and she wants everyone else to be, too.

"Have any of you ever watched a documentary of one of the great social movements—apartheid or civil rights or Stonewall—and asked yourself, would you have been brave enough to walk the bridge? We don’t have to wonder anymore. We are in our documentary moment. This is it, and it’s not a rehearsal!" she continued.

Even Julia Louis-Dreyfus hyped her up, bragging about Fonda’s infamous place on Richard Nixon’s “enemies list”—a moment that earned huge applause.

Fonda also reflected on her unexpected Hollywood career. "I have had a really weird career. Totally unstrategic. I retired for 15 years and then I came back at 65, which is not usual, and then 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," she joked.

Fonda took her SAG award win as a personal battle cry. "This means the world to me. Thank you SAG-AFTRA. Your enthusiasm makes this seem less like a late twilight of my life, and more like a 'go girl, kick a**'. Which is good because I'm not done."

She finally demanded Hollywood organize against Trump.

"We must not isolate. We must stay in community. We must find ways to project an inspiring message of the future. There will still be love. There will still be beauty. And there will be an ocean of truth for us to swim in," she said and concluded  "Let's make it so. Thank you for this encouragement."

'Hanoi Jane Fonda' slammed on social media over SAG speech

Not everyone was cheering, though. The ghosts of “Hanoi Jane” came back to haunt her once more.

Despite her decades in Hollywood, many people haven't forgotten her infamous 1972 trip to North Vietnam where she was photographed sitting on an antiaircraft gun—an image that still enrages Vietnam War veterans to this day.

"Hanoi Jane Fonda is a Communist who should have been charged with treason for her actions during the Vietnam War. She has no moral standing to criticize @realDonaldTrump," one posted on X.

"That's the traitor who posed with the communist North Vietnamese, right?" another wrote.

"Not one person in America doesn’t know that Fonda is a communist," a user fumed.

"Oh no, I guess I need to change all my opinions and thoughts because an out-of-touch celebrity doesn't like the president I voted for..." someone else snarked.

"She is a washed-up old bag trying to be relevant. She is a *clown emoji*," read a comment.

"And this is why people don't care about Hollywood anymore," another chimed in.

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