'It's a factor of poverty, not race': Jane Fonda uses 80th birthday to raise $1.3m for teen pregnancy prevention
Jane Fonda used her upcoming 80th birthday celebration to raise $1.3 million for her foundation.
The two-time Oscar-winner hosted the Eight Decades Of Jane fundraiser on Saturday night at an upscale hotel Saturday night looking stylish in an Elie Saab jumpsuit with matching jacket.
The event recognized Fonda's life achievements along with her foundation, Georgia Campaign For Adolescent Power & Potential.
Birthday fundraiser: Jane Fonda used her upcoming 80th birthday celebration to raise $1.3 million for her Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential
The Atlanta-based nonprofit focuses on teen pregnancy prevention and adolescent health.
Fonda, who turns 80 on December 21, created GCAPP in 1995 when Georgia had one of the highest teen birth and pregnancy rates in the country.
Share this article
Since then, the state saw a 66 percent decrease in the birth rate for teens between the ages of 15 to 19, according to state data.
Fonda's foundation hosted the event with 228 guests in attendance including CNN founder and ex-husband Ted Turner, 79; her son Troy Garity, 44, and producer Paula Weinstein, 72.
Foundation founder: GCAPP focuses on teen pregnancy prevention and adolescent health
James Taylor, 69, and Carole King, 75, performed several songs including So Far Away and You've Got A Friend.
Dolly Parton, Kerry Washington, Ludacris and Oprah Winfrey shared a toast through a video message.
Fonda during a recent interview with The Associated Press was asked about the misconceptions of teen pregnancy.
Showing support: Fonda's ex-husband Ted Turner attended the celebration and fundraiser
'Middle-class kids don't get pregnant in large numbers, because they see a future compromised if that happens to them. It has nothing to do with race,' she said.
'White kids who live in poor areas of the country have high rates of teen pregnancy, and so does every other race and ethnicity. It's a factor of poverty, not race,' Fonda said.
She also was asked why she believed women in Hollywood were now stepping forward with sexual harassment claims.
Good point: The Oscar-winning actress celebrated with 228 guests in attendance including her actor son Troy Garity, 44
'The reason it's happening now is because of who our president is. He's a perpetrator [President Donald Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct but has denied the allegations]. Many women are horrified that a man like that has been elected into office,' Fonda said.
'He's triggered a lot of memories in many women who have been victims. I think that it was white famous actresses who stepped forward and kind of opened the floodgates, and now people are realizing how much of an epidemic it is. Now, they're doing something about it,' she added.
Fonda currently stars in the Netflix series Grace And Frankie.
She can be seen next year on the big screen in the comedy Book Club also starring Mary Steenburgen, 64; Candice Bergen, 71, and Diane Keaton, 71.
Father and daughter: Henry Fonda is shown with young daughter Jane in a photo at the celebration
Most watched News videos
- Gang of thugs kick man's head so hard he sustains brain injury
- Polar vortex transforms Lake Michigan into a huge mass of ice
- New Jersey man caught on camera dropping ice to fake a fall
- Trailer for Fred & Rose West: The Real Story with Trevor McDonald
- Mother filmed beating her seven-year-old daughter in Argentina
- Missing teen is found as stepfather is charged with rape
- Julie Klausner recounts how John Kasich stole her seat on flight
- Polar vortex blamed for at least a dozen deaths across the US
- Russian fighter jet cuts in front of USAF plane over the Baltic sea
- Detroit policeman racially taunts woman after seizing her car
- Drone footage captures Chicago on two of it's coldest days
- Hoda Kotb is all smiles as she does the One Small Thing series
