A star-studded benefit concert in Manhattan on Sunday night became a fiery platform for celebrity protest, with A-list figures taking direct aim at Donald Trump's presidency and what organizers framed as attacks on free speech and democratic rights.
Robert De Niro opened the Rise Up, Sing Out event at Town Hall with a sharp jab. "Good evening, everyone, and welcome to all of you who couldn't get tickets to the White House cage fights," he said, referencing a UFC event happening simultaneously at the White House. The two-and-a-half-hour variety show, co-executive produced by Jane Fonda and organized by the Committee for the First Amendment, featured speeches and performances from some of Trump's most vocal critics.
De Niro was blunt throughout his remarks. "I don't love a country that's led by a racist, misogynist, xenophobic tyrant," he declared. He then quoted Trump's recent comment about not caring about Americans' finances, firing back with profanity that the crowd repeated as a chant.
Fonda delivered her message with equal force but different tone. She accused the government of "routinely violating the first amendment to silence artists, shuttering institutions like the Kennedy Center and defunding museums." She drew a parallel to history, noting that her father Henry Fonda was an original member of the Committee for the First Amendment, founded to defend the Hollywood Ten screenwriters blacklisted in 1947 for suspected communist sympathies.
The Committee was revived by Fonda in 2025 following Trump's election victory. "What is really different from the last century is that the attacks are coming from every part of the government: the executive, the legislative and the supreme court," Fonda said. She described a coordinated effort to dismantle democratic rights, adding that "the un-American Activities Committee right now is coming from the White House."
Bette Midler performed a rendition of Woody Guthrie's 1944 protest song "All You Fascists Bound to Lose" with updated lyrics declaring "We're gonna win the midterms, we're coming for his ass." She told the audience: "I feel like I'm part of a community that is so bright, so intelligent, so well meaning, and so desperate for justice. I've been around a long time, but I've never been through what we're living through now."
The concert featured performances from Rufus Wainwright and Patti Smith, whose 1988 protest anthem "People Have the Power" drew a standing ovation. Fonda noted that hundreds of thousands were watching via livestream, with watch parties and theater rentals organized across the nation.
Beyond music, speakers addressed specific grievances. Lily Gladstone, raised on a Blackfeet Reservation, contextualized current divisions within Native American history. "For many Americans, this era of division, of stolen speech, broken promises, families torn apart, of risking all you have for the simple right to exist as you are, may feel unprecedented," she said. "For the first peoples of this land, unfortunately, this has been ongoing since the birth of this country as we know it today."
Julia Roberts recited a poem honoring Renée Good, a 37-year-old killed by ICE in Minneapolis earlier this year. "Renée Nicole Good was not a symbol," Roberts said. "She was an American woman, a queer woman, who was doing the very best she could do to be good in an unjust world."
Wilson Cruz and RuPaul's Drag Race star Peppermint highlighted LGBTQ+ concerns, with Peppermint warning that trans Americans face government censorship rather than support. "Trans children who should be living openly in their truth are intimidated by a government that cares more about censoring their bodies than feeding them," she said.
Rabbi Rachel Tomoner from Congregation Beth Elohim spoke on behalf of Jewish attendees, emphasizing the importance of religious freedom protections. "We have been grateful to live in a country that has protected us and others from the imposition of any religion by the state," she said.
As the event concluded, Fonda outlined concrete next steps for supporters, including contacting representatives to block the proposed Paramount and Warner Bros merger. "We have sung out, and now it's time for us to rise up," she said to roaring applause.
Author James Rodriguez: "This was less about charity and more about raw political catharsis, with celebrities using their platform to organize rather than simply perform."
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