Jane Fonda wants you to have the dress right off her back.
The actress and activist announced Thursday night that she will auction off the glamorous frock she wore to this year’s Academy Awards at the Oct. 3 EmPower Party benefiting the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power and Potential.
"I'm so excited," said Fonda, who will no doubt need a new gown for next year's Oscars event. She appears now as Nancy Reagan in "The Butler," the box-office powerhouse starring Forrest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Terrence Howard, John Cusack, Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Lenny Kravitz, with Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan.
“I was on the set for a day and a half, let’s be honest,” Fonda said, demurring about her role in the film. “It was great to work with Oprah. Once I saw the movie, I knew it was going to be big.”
We talked to Fonda briefly during the EmPower patron party at the home of Laura Turner Seydel, Fonda's former stepdaughter, and former stepson-in-law Rutherford Seydel. Actually, scratch the "former." Fonda still considers her ex Ted Turner's family to be her own.
“Divorce doesn’t mean ending love,” Fonda said. “It doesn’t mean ending family. Even though Ted and I aren’t married, his kids and I are still family. When I turned 75 they came out to California and they stole the show!”
So, about that dress. Fonda said the floor-length yellow Versace number with a sparkling gathered waist and cut-out back will be among the offerings up for grabs at the upcoming fundraiser, to be held at the Georgia Aquarium. The event will feature a conversation between Fonda and CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
“I think he’s a real hero,” Fonda said. “He allows people to have agency over their own health care.”
G-CAPP, which Fonda founded in 1995, initially focused primarily on ending teenage pregnancy in Georgia but has expanded its mission to encompass a wide range of adolescent health and wellness issues.
“It’s not just girls,” Fonda said. “We work with boys as well. If we can’t figure out how to help our boys, we can’t help our girls.”
General admission tickets to EmPower, co-chaired by Alexandra Walter and Ashley Miller, are $300 each. Patron tickets are $1,500 per couple. See www.gcapp.org or call 404-524-2277 for information and reservations.
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