This Is When #MeToo Perpetrators Can Return To The Spotlight, According To Jane Fonda

"... It’s clear they haven’t done the work."

Ever since the #MeToo movement and Time's Up initiative began, we've seen the image of some powerful men tarnished due to sexual assault and sexual harassment allegations. During all of this there has been one question that has been asked over and over again: When can they return to work? Jane Fonda, for one, has an answer.


"Guys are trying to make a comeback, but it's clear they haven't done the work," Fonda explained, citing the likes of Charlie Rose explicitly but also implying others attempting to make comebacks such as Louis C.K. and Matt Lauer. "There's work that can be done and you know when a guy has done the work."

The 80-year-old acting legend, who said all of this at a luncheon celebrating the HBO documentary Jane Fonda in Five Acts (airing tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT), has been an advocate for the #MeToo movement and Time's Up initiative. That shouldn't come as a surprise, though, as she has been outspoken about many issues during her life.

As for how long it takes to do the work that'll allow them to re-enter the professional world, Fonda is a firm believer that a timeframe doesn't matter. Rather, she notes, it depends on what they are doing in their DNA. For her, the enemy is a society's toxic masculinity that instills in men a patriarchal sense of not being emotional or empathetic. Fonda, who said she has "tremendous compassion for boys and men," said it is her hope that we "fix them, or at least show them the way."

"It doesn't matter if it's two weeks or a year or two years, it depends on what kind of changes they've gone through. And if they haven't gone through the changes, then why should they come back?" Fonda added. "Sweep the floor at Starbucks until you learn! If you can't learn, you don't belong in the boardroom — and there are plenty of women who do belong in the boardroom."

This is yet another example of women giving advice to men on how to handle #MeToo and Time's Up. There are men out there doing their best to figure out how to make up for the past and figure out how to be better in the future, but it is obvious that Fonda — and other women — are leading the charge and bettering society.

(H/T: IndieWire | Variety)

Cover image: Denis Makarenko /

