Sony Pictures Classics condemned actor Peter Fonda’s vulgar rant against President Trump’s family and his administration, but said it’s too late to pull his upcoming film “Boundaries” from its scheduled release this weekend.
“Peter Fonda’s comments are abhorrent, reckless and dangerous, and we condemn them completely,” Sony said in a statement Thursday.
“It is important to note that Mr. Fonda plays a very minor role in the film,” the company said. “To pull or alter this film at this point would unfairly penalize the filmmaker Shana Feste’s accomplishment, the many actors, crew members and other creative talent that worked hard on the project. We plan to open the film as scheduled this weekend, in a limited release of five theaters.”
Mr. Fonda was forced to apologize Wednesday after first lady Melania Trump notified the Secret Service of tweets he made targeting her 12-year-old son, Barron.
“We should rip Barron Trump from his mother’s arms and put him in a cage with pedophiles and see if his mother will stand up against the giant a—hole she is married to,” Mr. Fonda wrote in all caps.
He also encouraged followers to dig up the names of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, “surround their homes” in protest and harass their children at school.
“We should hack the system, get the addresses of the ICE agents [Customs and Border Protection] agents and surround their homes in protest. We should find out what schools their children go to and surround the schools in protest. These agents are doing this cuz they want to do it. They like doing this,” he wrote in all caps. “We don’t have to take the agents kids, we only need to surround their schools and scare the s—t out of them and worry the f—k out of the agents from CBE ICE and regular border patrol agents. We need to scare the f—k out of them! Need to make their children worry now.”
Stephanie Grisham, spokeswoman to the first lady, called Mr. Fonda’s tweets “sick and irresponsible” and said the Secret Service had been notified.
Mr. Fonda eventually deleted the tweets and issued an apology for letting his emotions get the better of him.
“I tweeted something highly inappropriate and vulgar about the president and his family in response to the devastating images I was seeing on television,” Mr. Fonda said. “Like many Americans, I am very impassioned and distraught over the situation with children separated from their families at the border, but I went way too far. It was wrong and I should not have done it. I immediately regretted it and sincerely apologize to the family for what I said and any hurt my words have caused.”
Responding to Sony’s statement, Donald Trump Jr. decried a double standard in Hollywood that saw Roseanne Barr fired and shunned for similarly offensive behavior on social media.
No They Don’t. Unlike what happened to @therealroseanne, @iamfonda wont face any consequences & of course @sonyclassics will still release his movie as planned. If you needed more verification of the double standard here’s the perfect example. RT & let them know your thoughts https://t.co/BlY9Cr9tF8
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 21, 2018
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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