Hundreds of celebrities relaunch a McCarthy-era committee to defend free speech

Question

On Wednesday, over 550 celebrities relaunched a group first organized during the post-World War II Red Scare: the Committee for the First Amendment. Their intent is to stand up in what they call a "defense of our constitutional rights," adding: "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."

The current group is headlined by actor and activist Jane Fonda — whose father, actor Henry Fonda, was one of the early members of the first Committee for the First Amendment, which was founded in the 1940s to oppose the infamous House Un-American Activities Committee, through which the federal government accused many top entertainers of being communists or communist sympathizers and derailed their careers.

Answer 1

This is true, according to a number of reports by outlets like NBC News, Fox News, and Democracy Now. The NYT describes the revival of Henry Fonda's McCarthy-era free-expression group by his daughter Jane. In a statement signed by Ms. Fonda, Spike Lee, Billie Eilish, Pedro Pascal, and more than 800 others, they emphasized that “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."

Comments

I like how your answer is straight and to the point! I'm curious where you found the quote that you referenced? Has that statement been officially published somewhere public?

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I thought you did a good job backing up the claim and providing sources to show how the situation had unfolded and the celebrities who were involved. There were a few primary sources like posts by celebrities that could've been added for more information, or statements from individuals like Jane Fonda, who led the entire movement and explained why she decided to reinitiate it. Overall, you did a great job emphasizing the important points of the situation.