On June 14, a group of legendary performers will take the stage in New York to celebrate art and music—and fight “an authoritarian regime that is rapidly taking over our democracy,” says organizer Jane Fonda.
“Rise Up, Sing Out: A Concert for the First Amendment” will feature performances and appearances by Fonda, Bette Midler, Joy Reid, Patti Smith, Rufus Wainwright, Sasha Allen, and Broadway Inspirational Voices.
Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment, a free speech advocacy group, is organizing the star-studded fundraising event to bring attendees—and viewers at home—together in celebration of “the freedoms guaranteed by our First Amendment, of speech, religion, press, assembly, and protest. In a moment when authoritarians are increasing their attacks on our freedoms and communities, this is an opportunity for people across the country to rise up.” Proceeds from the event will go to the Committee for the First Amendment, which will put them toward training, hiring organizers, and future activations and shows.
“We have to stand up now—this is the time,” Fonda tells Vanity Fair. “Do not do it alone…. We have to enlarge our hearts right now. We have to grow our empathy and help each other in the face of what’s happening.”
The 90-minute show will be livestreamed, with watch parties taking place throughout the country. “Public activism has worked in the past over and over,” Fonda says. “Every good thing that we’ve achieved in this country has happened because average people made their voices heard one way or another.”
“Music has always been the language of resistance. When this administration comes for our freedoms, music is how we remember who we are and what we’re fighting for,” Wainwright said in a statement shared with VF. “‘Rise Up, Sing Out’ is what this moment demands. So let’s come together, raise our voices, and remind them exactly who this country belongs to.”
When asked if she or any of the other participants has any concerns about blowback from the Trump administration, Fonda replies, “Fear is temporary. Regret is forever. I am old enough to know that when you are on your deathbed, it’s not the things you’ve done—it’s the things you didn’t do that you regret.”
Fonda, a lifelong activist, launched the Committee for the First Amendment in October, inspired by the original Committee for the First Amendment, which was founded by a group of creatives—and included members such as Lucille Ball, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Fonda’s own father, Henry Fonda—during the McCarthy era. Today the group boasts about 3,500 members who all work in entertainment.
