Jane Fonda, 81, continues to make headlines as she narrowly avoids getting arrested for the fifth time for protesting in support of climate change in Washington D.C. For each of her Capitol Hill appearances, the Grace and Frankie star’s donned a red peacoat — and there’s a reason she’s been wearing the bold topper on repeat.
“The team and I decided at the very beginning that we should all try to wear something red,” said Fonda in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I racked my brain — I didn’t have anything red. I don’t usually wear red. So I decided that the last article of clothing that I will ever buy is a red coat.”
She continued, “Sure enough, I found one at Neiman Marcus on sales for $500. And that’s the coat. I’m speaking out against consumerism and so I have to walk the talk. And so that’s the last thing I’ll buy.”
On her website, Fonda explains that she moved to D.C. to “be closer to the epicenter of the fight for our climate” and has been protesting so frequently in hopes to get political leaders to address the issues of climate change. She calls these weekday protests Fire Drill Fridays, as inspired by the 2019 children’s book, Our House Is on Fire.
The activist spoke to a crowd at a protest on Friday, November 1, saying, “I grew up when consumerism didn’t have such a stranglehold over us so when I talk to people about how we don’t really need to keep shopping — we shouldn’t look to shopping for our identity; we just don’t need more stuff then I have to walk the talk so I’m not buying any more clothes.”
“Every Friday through January, I will be leading weekly demonstrations on Capitol Hill to demand that action by our political leaders be taken to address the climate emergency we are in,” continued Fonda on her website. “We can’t afford to wait.”
