Jane Fonda is confused about why she was not picked to honor her late co-star Robert Redford during this year’s Oscars’ In Memoriam segment.
After Barbra Streisand shared an emotional onstage tribute to her The Way We Were co-star — who died aged 89 in September — during Sunday’s 98th Academy Awards, Fonda questioned why the Academy skipped her over for the job.
“I wanna know how come Streisand was up there doing that for Redford?” Fonda, 88, asked Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party. “She only made one movie with him, I made four. I have more to say.”
The iconic activist starred alongside Redford across five decades in The Chase, Barefoot in the Park, The Electric Horseman and Our Souls at Night. The Academy did not immediately return The Independent’s request for comment on why Fonda did not speak during the Sundance founder’s tribute.
“I was always in love with him,” Fonda said on the red carpet. “The most gorgeous human being and such great values and he did a lot for movies. He really changed movies, lifted up independent movies.”
Fonda said in a statement after Redford’s death: “It hit me hard this morning when I read that Bob was gone. I can’t stop crying. He meant a lot to me and was a beautiful person in every way. He stood for an America we have to keep fighting for.”
Streisand, 83, similarly spoke about Redford’s legacy of activism during her speech at the Oscars. The legendary singer said at the podium that the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid star was “thoughtful and bold,” adding, “I called him an intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail.”
She said that she had a playful, teasing relationship with Redford, who played the infamous love interest Hubbell Gardiner in their 1973 movie together.
“He was a brilliant, subtle actor,” Streisand said. “And we had a wonderful time playing off each other because we never quite knew what the other one was going to do in the scene."
Streisand then delivered a rare performance of “The Way We Were,” over a decade since she last performed it at the 2013 Oscars in tribute to composer Marvin Hamlisch.
Redford was among the numerous Hollywood heavyweights honored during the emotional ceremony, which was hosted by Conan O’Brien. In addition to Streisand, Billy Crystal took the stage to honor the late director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, and Rachel McAdams gave a speech remembering Diane Keaton. The segment also paid tribute to Catherine O’Hara, Diane Ladd, Robert Duvall and several others.
