(Vienna) American actress Jane Fonda, guest of honor at the Vienna Opera Ball, on Wednesday called on the prestigious institution to cut its ties with the oil industry, described as “criminal” by the climate activist .
She also interfered in geopolitics by expressing her “anger” against Russian President Vladimir Putin and by saluting “the courage of the Ukrainian people and their extraordinary leader” Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian who “knew how to show himself to the height “.
“I discovered” that the Austrian hydrocarbon company OMV “is one of the sponsors of the ball”, she declared during a press conference in the Austrian capital.
“I’m sorry to hear that. These companies are criminal, they kill people, they kill the planet,” said the 85-year-old star.
For Jane Fonda, they are trying to restore their image, to “make themselves socially acceptable by paying money to museums and operas”.
“We cannot allow this. The Vienna Opera is fantastic, make sure it stops receiving support from an oil company,” she told reporters.
As pressure mounts on cultural institutions linked to companies exploiting fossil fuels, the Royal Opera House in London announced in January the end of its contract with the oil giant BP.
The Austrian company OMV is also a historical partner of the Russian gas giant Gazprom.
A cinema icon who has become a pacifist, feminist and then environmental activist since the 1970s, Jane Fonda has also taken the side of those who stick to the asphalt to raise awareness.
She was asked about the “Letzte Generation” (Last Generation) movement, which is organizing a series of traffic blocking actions in Vienna this week.
“I know that many people are annoyed, but I completely understand why young people engage in such drastic gestures”, commented the one who was arrested several times for protesting against the immobility of political leaders.
Faced with the “chaos” that awaits, faced with “this crisis which could mean the end of civilization”, everything must be done to “attract attention”, insisted the actress with energy.
Jane Fonda will star Thursday night at the very posh Opera Ball, which is making its comeback after a two-year forced hiatus linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coming to Vienna “because I am paid handsomely”, money used to finance her actions against climate change, she “will not dance”.
“I have prostheses in one shoulder, hips and knees. I am old and in danger of falling apart,” she smiled.