(AFP) – Jane Fonda and hundreds of Hollywood celebrities have relaunched a Cold War-era free speech protest movement, warning that the Trump administration is engaged in a coordinated campaign to silence critics. Actors Natalie Portman, Sean Penn, and Anne Hathaway are among the more than 550 signatories to the revived “Committee for the First Amendment,” along with director Spike Lee and “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin.
“This Committee was initially created during the McCarthy Era, a dark time when the federal government repressed and persecuted American citizens for their political beliefs,” said a statement published on Wednesday. It added: “Those forces have returned. And it is our turn to stand together in defense of our constitutional rights.” US actor and activist Fonda is spearheading the effort. Her father, actor Henry Fonda, was an early member of the first “Committee for the First Amendment” in the 1940s.
Back in the early days of the Cold War, Senator Joseph McCarthy led draconian measures in the United States to stifle supposedly “Un-American” dissent, with a particular focus on Hollywood. The original committee, which also featured Golden Age icons Judy Garland, Humphrey Bogart, and Frank Sinatra, called out government repression and harassment, sending delegations to Washington and delivering radio broadcasts to highlight the threat.
The relaunch of the committee “is not a warning shot. This is the beginning of a sustained fight,” said its website. It comes in the wake of Disney’s decision to briefly pull late-night show Jimmy Kimmel off-air following pressure from the US government and its broadcast regulator. Kimmel — who had made remarks about the killer of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk — was restored to the airwaves last week following widespread outrage over alleged government censorship. The comedian described the efforts to silence him as “un-American.”
But President Donald Trump has described domestic media coverage of him as unduly negative and therefore “illegal.” The newly reconstituted committee’s statement pledges to “stand together — fiercely united — to defend free speech and expression from this assault,” and warned Hollywood companies against succumbing to government pressure in future. “And to those who profit from our work while threatening the livelihoods of everyday working people, bowing to government censorship, and cowering to brute intimidation: we see you and history will not forget,” it said. “This will not be the last you hear from us.”
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