Hundreds of cultural workers, including visual artists, have signed on to a newly reignited McCarthy-era free speech group led by actress Jane Fonda.
Fonda announced on October 1 that she would revive the Committee for the First Amendment, an anti-censorship group originally formed in 1947 whose members included her father, actor Henry Fonda. During the McCarthy era, the original committee condemned hearings held by the House Un-American Activities Committee, which investigated and instigated the blacklisting of Hollywood cultural workers amid heightened fears of communist influence in the United States in the mid-20th century.
Now, in the face of the Trump administration, the committee’s focus will be on defending free speech and resisting censorship with “noncooperation” and “nonviolence,” the group said in a statement.
The group came together again in the wake of the brief suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night comedy show over his remarks about Charlie Kirk, sparking massive outcry and fears of censorship. The current government, the committee said, is “engaged in a coordinated campaign to silence critics in the government, the media, the judiciary, academia, and the entertainment industry.”
The 2025 iteration of the group boasts a star-studded list of signatories, including Billie Eilish, Cynthia Nixon, and Barbra Streisand. Among the visual artists on the revamped committee are textile artist Jody Uttal, filmmaker Kathy Brew, and Emmy-award-winning cartoonist Joe Wos.
Appalled by what she described as a climate of “censorship of ideas and creative endeavors,” Uttal told Hyperallergic in a phone call that she signed onto the committee when an organizer working with Fonda reached out to her.
“I don’t use figurative imagery, nor do I use words, but to be able to create my work and get it out there … I hope I can always be able to do that,” Uttal said.
Joe Wos, a cartoonist who has won the prestigious Reuben Award and an Emmy for hosting PBS’s Cartoon Academy (2021), told Hyperallergic that he signed on to the nascent group because he fears the United States is entering into a second McCarthyist era. He said he believes he has a responsibility to protect future generations of artists and performers.
“Art speaks truth, entertainment has the ability to speak that truth to the masses,” Wos said. “We are fighting for our lives and our livelihoods. But we are also fighting to maintain those hard-won freedoms for future generations of artists and creators.”
Wos is familiar with attempts to control his work and expression. In high school, the artist said, he was removed from a student newspaper for criticizing the administration and was once served a cease-and-desist order by Krispy Kreme for a cartoon he drew. While he is familiar with what he calls “corporate censorship,” Wos believes the current government’s attempts to control expression are more chilling.
“Censorship from corporate interest has long been an issue, but now we are seeing government censorship used as a weapon by an administration that is hostile toward the arts and toward anyone who dares to raise their voice in protest,” Woss told Hyperallergic in an email.
Filmmaker Kathy Brew also told Hyperallergic that she believes that the US is entering a new McCarthy era, and expressed concerns that artists may start self-censoring.
“It seems that the role of artists in this political moment is to continue to be commentators, activists, and documentarians, and to resist authoritarianism and respond to specific global events,” Brew said. Artists are called to create “in spite of these challenges,” she added.
During its nearly two-week tenure, the committee has so far used its Instagram platform to draw attention to the functions of the First Amendment. The group has also raised alarms about criticism from government officials of country singer Luke Bryan’s new song, which criticizes US immigration agents.
When she was asked to join the committee, Uttal said, she immediately thought of the organization Rock the Vote, which was born out of concerns that rap and hip hop artists in the 1990s were facing censorship. An image came to Uttal’s mind when she was asked to sign the petition: a 1996 artwork by Josh Gosfield portraying a Brown man with an American flag-sleeved hand covering his mouth. A text on the artwork read “Censorship is Un-American.”
“I don’t do overtly political work right now, but people can and should do what Rock the Vote’s ‘Censorship is un-American’ did. It was well posted across cities all over the country. Right now, we need to get images out that directly address this,” Uttal said. “People just need to see it.”
