October 2, 2025
On October 1, 2025, Jane Fonda announced she was relaunching the historic Committee for the First Amendment, which existed in the late ‘40s as a pushback against Sen. Joe McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities.
The 2025 version is anti-Trump — and anti-autocracy, which Trump has continued to joke about, flirt with and, in many cases, openly embrace. The ignoring of due process, the expulsion of immigrants to prisons in countries far from their homes, the ignoring of court orders, outrageously unconstitutional executive actions … it would not be so hard to argue that the bad old days are back and are the even worse old days.
In the statement, Fonda wrote:
“Today, we relaunch the Committee for the First Amendment. 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. They targeted elected officials, government employees, academics, and artists. They were blacklisted, harassed, silenced, and even imprisoned.”
Gen X is Trumpier than even the Boomers, perhaps because they’re too young to know this history?
“The McCarthy Era ended when Americans from across the political spectrum finally came together and stood up for the principles in the Constitution against the forces of repression.
“Those forces have returned. And it is our turn to stand together in defense of our constitutional rights.
“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.
“We refuse to stand by and let that happen. Free speech and free expression are the inalienable rights of every American of all backgrounds and political beliefs – no matter how liberal or conservative you may be. The ability to criticize, question, protest, and even mock those in power is foundational to what America has always aspired to be.
“We understand that this is a frightening and confusing moment for many people. We recognize that we represent just one group of many who are under threat right now. Across classrooms, libraries, factories, companies and workplaces of all kinds, Americans of every walk of life are facing intimidation and censorship too — and we stand with them.
“We know there is power in solidarity and strength in numbers. We will stand together—fiercely united—to defend free speech and expression from this assault. This is not a partisan issue. That is why we urge every American who cares about the First Amendment—the cornerstone of our democracy—and every artist around the globe who looks to the United States as a beacon of freedom to join us.
“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. This will not be the last you hear from us.”
Fonda also said in an October 1 Instagram video:
“Hi, everybody, this is Jane Fonda. This is the end of our launch day, this is the first of October. I am so inspired, because hundreds and hundreds of people have been calling and emailing us, wanting to be added to the Committee for the First Amendment, people in the industry.”
She went on:
“What it shows to me is that our industry is ready to mobilize and to resist autocracy, to resist attacks on our fundamental freedoms. We’re artists! We’re creatives! Freedom of expression is essential to what we do. Many of our fathers and grandfathers fought wars to defend this right, and we can’t just sit back and let this happen — and it’s moving fast. This isn’t a creeping totalitarianism, this is fast-moving consolidation of autocracy, and that means we have to move fast, and we have to be creative.”
Channeling her ex, Ted Turner, she said:
“I’ve come to call what I hope we do ‘CNN’: creative, nonviolent, noncooperation. That’s what we need. ‘noncooperation’ means large numbers of people taking strategic action in a way that will hurt our opponents. Here’s an example of noncooperation — when people canceled their Disney subscriptions after the firing of Jimmy Kimmel. We have to hurt their pocketbooks, and doing it as individuals is risky.”
Perhaps referencing the terrible personal price paid by creatives blacklisted in the ‘50s, she said:
“If we do it in large numbers, then we’re safer, so that’s what we’re going for. We’re not looking to build an organization, we’re looking to grow a movement. We don’t want bureaucracy, we want large numbers of people willing to join together to stand up. And I know that we’re gonna find ver new and creative ways to do it. We’re gonna model what creative nonviolent, noncooperation looks like for the rest of the world and for the rest of this country. We can do it. It’s exciting. And we can have fun doing it. Already, reporters have been asking, ‘Well, what are you gonna do?’ I have some ideas, and I’m sure you do, too. So let’s do it.”
Way back when, the Committee for the First Amendment launched in September of 1947 when dozens of Hollywood creatives were summoned to appear before HUAC. Directors John Huston and William Wyler, as well as Canadian actor Alexander Knox and screenwriter Philip Dunne met at a restaurant near RKO and Paramount to try to rally some opposition.
Theirs was an effort dubbed Hollywood Fights Back, and later the Committee for the First Amendment, and quickly attracted the support of big names like Ira Gershwin.
On October 20, 1947, celebrities including Katharine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Edward G. Robinson, Gene Kelly, Bogie & Bacall, Burt Lancaster, Marsha Hunt, Myrna Loy, Ava Gardner, Gregory Peck and Henry Fonda met at Gershwin’s house. (Note: Many news articles this week have painted Henry Fonda as the leader of the original Committee for the First Amendment. That is not so.)
A decision was made to buy print ads in newspapers that read:
“We the undersigned, as American citizens who believe in constitutional democratic government, are disgusted and outraged by the continuing attempt of the House Un-American Activities Committee to smear the Motion Picture Industry. We hold that these hearings are morally wrong because: Any investigation into the political beliefs of the individuals is contrary to the basic principles of our democracy; any attempt to curb freedom of expression and to set arbitrary standards of Americanism is in itself disloyal to both the spirit and the letter of the Constitution.”
The group paid a reported $13,000 to charter a TWA plane from Howard Hughes so that some of them could fly to Washington, D.C., in order to make their grievances public with HUAC.
Wyler lectured all those going on the flight to put their best foot forward, and tried to weed out anyone with actual Communist sympathies, which could sink the mission. (Ironic that a group hellbent on the First Amendment was mad about the suggestion of Communism, but was not willing to go the extra step of sticking up for an American’s right to actually be a Communist.)
Though the flight’s participants had hoped to arrive when Eric Johnston of the MPAA was testifying — he had previously been anti-blacklisting and anti-censorship — the committee tricked them by instead kicking things off with antagonistic testimony from a Writers Guild head whose politics were Communist in nature.
The Hollywood Ten — accused Communists — testified in pandemonium, and would all be cited for contempt when the hearings ended on October 30.
The Committee for the First Amendment put on radio shows that used Cotten, Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth and many more, while HUAC made use of testimony by Ayn Rand, Ronald Reagan, Walt Disney, Adolph Menjou, Gary Cooper, Jack Warner and Louis B. Mayer.
An unpleasant example of the enormous pressures exerted by McCarthyism: One of the Hollywood Ten, director Edward Dmytryk, swore up and down he never was a Communist, but only after he was imprisoned for contempt. Advised the Committee for the First Amendment’s Wyler to simply say that in order to buy leniency, Dmytryk instead admitted he had been a Communist … and named names.
And kept working.
The Committee for the First Amendment was defeated by Congress’ public-pleasing anti-Commie sideshow, which resulted in a devastating blacklist that lasted for many years and squelched free expression for lots of actors, directors and writers in Hollywood.
The blacklist dragged on throughout the 1950s, and it could be argued that it was in part because the original Committee for the First Amendment had big-name but few members (Jane Fonda’s version has attracted 500 Hollywood names), and because very few members of the public cared to disagree with McCarthyism.
That is not the case in 2025, when Trump’s popularity, while admittedly widespread, feels like a mirage — there are as many anti-Trumpers as Trumpers.
Honoring the Original Committee for the First Amendment Flight of 1947
In honor of the new Committee for the First Amendment, here are all the people on that fateful October 1947 flight to D.C. “Let’s do it!” as Jane Fonda says, so we don’t have to do this all over again down the road.
Because it’s hard to read, following are all the names on the October 1947 list of Hollywood figures on the TWA flight:
Jane Wyatt (1910-2006) — Best known as mom Amanda Grayson on Father Knows Best (1954-1960). Her film career was hurt by her opposition to McCarthyism.
Paul Henreid (1908-1992) — Victor Laszlo in Casablanca (1942), he was Blacklisted from major Hollywood films until the mid-’50s.
Danny Kaye (1911-1987) — Physical comedian known for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), Hans Christian Andersen (1952) and White Christmas (1954). He drew Humphrey Bogart’s wrath when, after the group appeared in D.C., Sterling Hayden was outed as a Communist.
Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) — One of the biggest movie stars of all time, Bogart arguably had the most to lose by lending his name to the effort, and was pissed off to discover Sterling Hayden was a bona fide Communist. Feeling betrayed, he lashed out at Danny Kaye and folded quickly. To save face and his career, he gave a statement that was widely circulated entitled “As Bogart Sees It Now,” in which he did not denounce the committee, but in which he made clear he was not a Communist or sympathizer.
Lauren Bacall (1924-2014) — She was in her early 20s and went where Bogie went at the time. But later, the superstar actress continued to be a proud leftie. In 2005, she told Larry King:
“Being a liberal is the best thing on earth you can be. You are welcoming to everyone when you’re a liberal. You do not have a small mind … I’m total, total, total liberal and proud of it. And I think it’s outrageous to say ‘The L word.’ I mean, excuse me. They should be damn lucky that they were liberals here. Liberals gave more to the population of the United States than any other group.”
Evelyn Keyes (1916-2008) — Most famous as Suellen O’Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939), she was on the trip with her then-husband John Huston. (Sidebar: Her memoir is a scorcher, filled with details of her many affairs. She also wrote that her adoptive son “sexually molested” her.)
John Huston (1906-1987) — Iconic, Oscar-winning director of everything from The Maltese Falcon (1941) to Prizzi’s Honor (1985). He was a founding member of the committee.
David Hopkins (born circa 1915-unsure of death) — He was the son of Harry Hopkins (1890-1946), a close confidante of President FDR (1882-1945).
Ira Gershwin (1896-1983) — Famed lyricist who provided the words to songs including “I Got Rhythm” (1930) and “Embraceable You” (1930).
Robert Ardrey (1908-1980) — Playwright and screenwriter turned anthropological author of works including The Territorial Imperative (1966).
June Havoc (1912-2010) — The sister of Gypsy Rose Lee (1911-1970) immortalized as the sister with talent in the musical Gypsy (1959). She acted onstage, in films and on TV.
Sheridan Gibney (1903-1988) — Oscar-winning writer of The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936) who was a Screen Writers Guild president. He was slurred as a Communist by Warner Bros. head Jack Warner (1892-1978) — who took it back — and was affected by the blacklist.
Ernest Pascal (1896-1966) — Writer who worked on silent films, talkies and Broadway shows.
Arthur Kober (1900-1975) — Husband of Lillian Hellman (1905-1984) and short story writer, humorist and screenwriter.
Larry Adler (1914-2001) — Harmonica player and film composer.
Richard Conte (1910-1975) — Movie actor famous for noir dramas who was in Ocean’s 11 (1960) and, much later, played mobster Emilio Barzini in The Godfather (1972).
Sterling & Betty Ann Hayden (1916-1986) — This movie star worked with Huston in The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and appeared in Johnny Guitar (1954). Having briefly been a card-carrying Communist in 1946, he was the most controversial member of the group on that plane. He later named names, cooperating with the very committee he had been protesting. Hayden lived to regret that decision. He was joined by his new wife.
Marsha Hunt (1917-2022) — Hollywood actress who wound up being among the longest-surviving adult leads of the 1930s. She and her husband, Robert Presnell Jr., deplored HUAC. When offered a chance to recant that trip, she wouldn’t — and was blacklisted for years. The documentary Marsha Hunt’s Sweet Adversity (2014) chronicles her extraordinary life.
Shepperd Strudwick (1907-1983) — Actor on the stage, on TV and in film noteworthy for his work in All the King’s Men (1949).
Joe Sistrom (1912-1966) — Producer and writer, including (though uncredited) of Double Indemnity (1944).
Paul Dugan (TWA representative)
Anne Frank (NOT THAT ONE; Stenographic)
Henry C. Rogers (1914-1995) — Publicist to all the top stars who was functioning as a press representative.
Jules Buck (1917-2001) — Producer who worked closely with Huston. Father of Joan Juliet Buck (b. 1948), EIC of French Vogue (1994-2001).
Robert Presnell Jr. (1914-1986) — Screenwriter husband of Marsha Hunt who directed radio shows and wrote The Twilight Zone’s “The Chaser” (1960) episode.
Joseph Cotten (1905-1994) — Along with Bogie, one of the biggest stars on the plane, his name having been added last-minute. He’d been in Citizen Kane (1941), Gaslight (1944) and Duel in the Sun (1946) by the time of the flight.
Geraldine Brooks (1925-1977) — I do not see her name on the list, but she appears in photos. She was an Emmy and a Tony winner, and a great beauty of her era.
Nobody on that flight is alive today — not since Hunt died at the ripe old age of 104 — but their fight, and our fight as a democratic republic, goes on. ⚡️