Jane Fonda has been arrested six times. According to Deadline, five times were during her climate change protests — the last was the night before she turned 82. Fonda’s first arrest was in 1970 and, per The Washington Post, the mugshot proved to be as revolutionary as its subject — with its anti-establishment message of defiance.
The actor’s activism began during the Vietnam War — and it came with a high price. On her website, Fonda claims she was set up by President Nixon’s administration and the CIA and FBI had been tailing her for months. She was arrested for smuggling drugs, which were actually vitamins. Fonda proved controversial amongst the public too. She was a polarizing figure, as many disagreed with Fonda’s staunch anti-war stance and accused her of being unpatriotic.
Meanwhile, she said it’s much easier for her to protest these days than back then because of her privilege and her fame’s currency. “Unlike [with] my earlier activism, I have a hit series at my back,” Fonda told LA Times. “It’s so much easier for me. People like me! I used to do this [in the Vietnam era], and chunks of my hair would literally be pulled out.”
