Jane Fonda salutes Robert Redford, criticizes Paramount-Warner Bros. merger at TCM festival

Jane Fonda used the opening night of the TCM Classic Film Festival to salute Robert Redford and criticize the pending Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.

At the April 30 event in Hollywood, Fonda introduced a new restoration of Barefoot in the Park as part of a tribute to Redford. According to reporting from TheWrap, she said the merger would threaten the kind of independent-minded filmmaking Redford championed, arguing that Hollywood could lose diversity, complexity and nuance if the deal goes through.

The comments were not a one-off outburst. Reuters reported on April 13 that Fonda was among more than 1,000 industry figures who signed an open letter opposing the merger. Paramount has already publicly confirmed the definitive agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery.

TCM's festival materials had already said Fonda would honor Redford with a special opening-night tribute, and the festival screening tied her remarks directly to one of Redford's best-known films. That gave the criticism a symbolic edge: a celebration of classic studio-era work was paired with a warning about the future of studio consolidation.

The merger remains under public scrutiny from artists and other industry voices. Fonda's comments add another high-profile objection as the deal continues through review.