Jane Fonda: QVC axed my appearance over politics

[July 18, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Jane Fonda says she's been banished from QVC amid concerns about her political past. The network says it was a routine programming change.

Fonda was set to appear on the home-shopping channel on Saturday to promote her new book on aging, "Prime Time." But the day before, she learned her segment had been cancelled.

In a statement posted on her website, Fonda says QVC told her of receiving "a lot of calls" from viewers criticizing her opposition to the Vietnam War and threatening to boycott the show if she was allowed to appear.

Fonda goes on to say she is "deeply disappointed that QVC caved to this kind of insane pressure" and declares, "I love my country."

Paul Capelli, a spokesman for West Chester, Pa.-based QVC, confirmed Fonda's cancelled appearance, but specified no reason.

"It's not unusual to have a schedule change with our shows and guests with little or no notice," he said in an e-mail. Fonda is not currently re-scheduled to appear, he said.

Fonda was dubbed "Hanoi Jane" nearly 40 years ago after visiting the North Vietnamese capital, where she made radio broadcasts critical of U.S. war policy. While there, she was photographed sitting on an anti-aircraft gun laughing and clapping.

Though she still defends her anti-war activism, Fonda has acknowledged that the photo incident was "a betrayal" of American forces.

"That two-minute lapse of sanity will haunt me until the day I die," she wrote in her 2006 autobiography.

The 73-year-old actress won Oscars for her films "Coming Home" and "Klute." Besides her books, she has also produced and starred in a number of bestselling exercise videos.

"Prime Time" will be released next month.

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Online:

www.janefonda.com/

www.qvc.com/

[Associated Press; By FRAZIER MOORE]

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