As Don Lemon was released from jail in Los Angeles, Jane Fonda was there to show her support.
The 2x Oscar winner called on people to “speak up” in the face of “autocrats” following Lemon’s Thursday indictment for covering an anti-ICE protest at a Minneapolis church earlier this month.
“We are not ready to sit and be quiet. We have to speak up. Every American who believes in our constitution has to speak up,” she said in a video shared by TMZ. “Don Lemon is a professional journalist. He and his producer were doing their job, nothing more, nothing less. And he’s been arrested. And they’ll make up all kinds of defamatory things to say about him, that’s what they’re doing. That’s how autocrats act. We can’t fall for it. We have to speak up. When a red line is crossed like this, we cannot be silent.”
Fonda continued, “I know Don Lemon. My husband created CNN, and I will fight for their right to speak, which is guaranteed in our constitution. They arrested the wrong Don.”
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On Friday, Lemon was released from custody on a no-cash bond, after which he thanked everyone outside the Los Angeles courthouse for their support.
“I have spent my entire career covering the news. I will not stop now,” said Lemon. “In fact, there is no more important time than right now this very moment for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.”
Amid Jimmy Kimmel Live‘s recent row with the FCC, Jane relaunched her father Henry Fonda’s McCarthy-era Committee for the First Amendment in October with the support of 550 industry figures.