Actress Jane Fonda offered an apology to Vietnam veterans and their families during a Television Critics Association panel discussion on her upcoming HBO documentary “Jane Fonda in Five Acts.” She said that she was sorry for being “thoughtless enough to sit down on that gun.”
Jane Fonda Reflects on Vietnam, Talks ‘9 to 5’ Reboot https://t.co/QwysEBWAzC
— Variety (@Variety) July 25, 2018
The gun Fonda referenced was an anti-aircraft gun — one that was likely used against American aircraft during the Vietnam War — and she was photographed sitting on it while talking with the North Vietnamese in 1972, before the end of the war.
@HistoryInPics @Mike_Coleman85 Jane Fonda, 1972. On a North Vietnamese Anti Aircraft Gun. Need I say more… pic.twitter.com/Lvurex85uh
— Mike Rehrig (@SqueakyRehrig) November 13, 2013
Fonda said that she still does not regret visiting North Vietnam — a trip she undertook after speaking to several disillusioned American soldiers in France. She explained, “I didn’t like it that there were men in France that knew better than I did. The coin shifted. I said, ‘I feel betrayed by this country’s leadership. We’ve been lied to, and I want to do anything I can to expose that.'”
While she makes no apology for her visit and the overall tone of her activism, she did apologize for the photograph showing her seated on the anti-aircraft gun. She said, “I am just so sorry that I was thoughtless enough to sit down on that gun at that time. The message that sends to the guys that were there and their families, it’s horrible for me to think about that.”
Fonda’s statement comes just weeks after her younger brother Peter had to delete a series of tweets advocating that President Donald Trump’s youngest son Barron be kidnapped over the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.