Last week, we reported that the CNN founder Ted Turner had passed away at the age of 87. Afterwards, his ex-wife Jane Fonda, who he was married to from 1991 until 2001, broke her silence to pay tribute to him after his death. Indeed, she had previously described Turner as being her “favorite ex-husband” out of her three.
Now, Fonda has reemerged to make her first public appearance since Turner’s death. This came at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, May 12.
Jane Fonda Opens Cannes Film Festival
During the festival’s opening ceremony, Fonda, 88, walked the red carpet wearing a shimmery black dress alongside her fellow Hollywood star Demi Moore, 63. Later, Fonda took the stage at the festival alongside the Chinese actress Gong Li, 60, to officially open the event.
“I believe that cinema has always been an act of resistance, because we tell stories and stories are what make a civilization,” Fonda said onstage. “Stories that bring empathy to the marginalized, stories that allow us to feel across difference. Stories that let us see that there is an alternative future that is possible.”
Fonda Honors Turner
It came as a surprise to some that Fonda made this appearance, as she had not been seen publicly since Turner’s death on May 6. Afterwards, Fonda took to Instagram to post an emotional and lengthy tribute to the man who she’d only just recently described as her “favorite” of her three ex-husbands.
“He swept into my life, a gloriously handsome, deeply romantic, swashbuckling pirate and I’ve never been the same,” Fonda began. “He needed me. No one had ever let me know they needed me, and this wasn’t your average human being that needed me, this was the creator of CNN, and Turner Classic Movies, who had won the America’s Cup as the world’s greatest sailor. He had a big life, a brilliant mind and a soaring sense of humor.”
“He could also take care of me,” the two-time Oscar-winner continued. “That was new as well. To be needed and cared for simultaneously is transformative. Ted Turner helped me believe in myself. He gave me confidence. I think I did the same for him, but that’s what women are raised to do. Men like Ted aren’t supposed to express need and vulnerability. That was Ted’s greatest strength, I believe.”
Fonda Doubles Down
Not stopping there, Fonda proceeded to double down.
“He also taught me more than any other person or school classes, mostly about nature and wildlife, hunting and fishing (hunters and fishermen who follow the law are the best environmentalists), but also about business and strategy,” she added. “Ted was supremely strategic. It was likely innate, but he studied the Classics in college, knew about the Peleponesian War inside and out and the strategies used by Alexander the Great and even Genghis Khan. And sailing big boats as he did further honed those strategic talents which he then brought into his businesses to much success. He could see around corners for sure.”
“Next to Katharine Hepburn, Ted was the most competitive person I have ever met and that was fascinating to witness,” Fonda concluded. “Whether it was who’d made the most ski runs at the end of the day, to acres of land owned (stewarded is the more fitting word for his relationship to land), who had the most billions, how many countries he’d made love to his prior lover in and could I match that, it was challenging. Ted was challenging, but I’ve always been up for a challenge, and with Ted it was almost always worth it.”
Fonda’s History With Turner
Fonda and Turner met back in 1990 immediately after she split from her second husband Tom Hayden.
”Ted can keep up with me,” Fonda told People Magazine in 1990. ”He’s a very, very funny, lovable, complicated person.”
Fonda and Turner later announced their separation in 2000.
“While we continue to be committed to the long-term success of our marriage, we find ourselves at a juncture where we must each take some personal time for ourselves,” they said in a statement at the time.
Their divorce was finalized in 2001. Despite this, they remained on good terms.
“I still have a very good relationship [with him]” Fonda said in 2008. “Life is too short to be fighting.”
Turner is survived by his five children. His survivors also include 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Rest in peace, Ted Turner.