Say Anything Blog

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jane Fonda regrets her visit to a North Vietnamese gun site in 1972, the actress and fitness guru said in an interview with CBS television show "60 Minutes" to be aired Sunday.

The actress defended her trip to Vietnam in 1972, which won her the nickname "Hanoi Jane." But she said her visit to a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun site used to shoot down U.S. pilots was a "betrayal" of the U.S. military.

"The image of Jane Fonda, Barbarella, Henry Fonda's daughter ... sitting on an enemy aircraft gun was a betrayal," she said, calling the act, "The largest lapse of judgment that I can even imagine."

But she said she did not regret visiting Hanoi, or being photographed with American prisoners of war there.

Bit of a mixed message there. She admits that at least part of her trip was traitorous, but then goes on to "defend" it? What brought this on?

Fonda speaks to Lesley Stahl in her first interview about her upcoming autobiography, "Jane Fonda: My Life So Far," for a 60 Minutes report to be broadcast Sunday, April 3, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Oh. Well, that explains it. Nothing like stirring up some old controversy for the sake of book sales. Some three-way action doesn't hurt either.

Given this...

She does not regret, however, visiting the enemy capital, Hanoi, or being photographed with American prisoners of war there, despite the propaganda value it afforded the enemy.

"There are hundreds of American delegations that had met with the POWs," says Fonda. "Both sides were using the POWs for propaganda....It's not something that I will apologize for."

Nor is she sorry for the broadcasts she made on Radio Hanoi, something she asked the North Vietnamese to do.

"Our government was lying to us and men were dying because of it, and I felt I had to do anything that I could to expose the lies and help end the war," she tells Stahl.

She went on Radio Hanoi at least 10 times, speaking directly to American pilots and criticizing their bombing of North Vietnam. Fonda insists she did not ask the pilots to disobey orders.

"I'm asking them to consider [not bombing North Vietnam]," says Fonda.

...I'm not expecting that my father or many other Vietnam vets will be willing to let bygones be bygones. After all, its not often you get to enjoy the pleasure of putting your life on the line for your country only to hear some spoiled, Hollywood brat from back home come on the radio and tell you that your cause is unjust and that your sacrifice is meaningless.