Sony is slated to release Peter Fonda’s new movie “Boundaries” later this week despite condemning his tweets attacking Barron Trump early Wednesday morning.
In a statement, Sony Pictures Classics called the actor’s comments “abhorrent, reckless and dangerous,” but made the case that his role is “very minor” and argued that pulling the film would “unfairly penalize” everyone else involved in the project.
“It is important to note that Mr. Fonda plays a very minor role in the film,” SPC said to Indiewire. “To pull or alter this film at this point would unfairly penalize the filmmaker Shana Feste’s accomplishment, the many actors, crew members and other creative talent that worked hard on the project. We plan to open the film as scheduled this weekend, in a limited release of five theaters.”
Fonda made headlines on Wednesday when he tweeted that Barron Trump, who is 12 years old, should be put in a cage with pedophiles.
“WE SHOULD RIP BARRON TRUMP FROM HIS MOTHER’S ARMS AND PUT HIM IN A CAGE WITH PEDOPHILES AND SEE IF HIS MOTHER WILL WILL [sic] STAND UP AGAINST THE GIANT ASSHOLE SHE IS MARRIED TO,” Fonda wrote.
The Oscar-nominated actor’s tweet, which has been deleted, came as the Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy for illegal immigration became a major story nationwide with reports of family separation on the border.
The suggestion Trump’s youngest son be “put in a cage with pedophiles” appears to be referencing a recent news report of a deputy sheriff charged with “super aggravated sexual assault” of a 4-year-old girl after her mother, an illegal immigrant, said she was “being blackmailed to stay silent about the abuse or face deportation.”
Fonda also suggested the kidnapping the children of border patrol agents and pushed for a massive nationwide riot should take place.
“WE SHOULD HACK THIS SYSTEM, GET THE ADDRESSES OF THE ICE AGENTS CBP AGENTS AND SURROUND THEIR HOMES IN PROTEST. WE SHOULD FIND OUT WHAT SCHOOLS THEIR CHILDREN GO TO AND SURROUND THE SCHOOLS IN PROTEST. THESE AGENTS ARE DOING THIS CUZ THEY WANT TO DO IT. THEY LIKE DOING THIS. FUCK,” screenshots of the deleted tweet read.
Wanna stop this fucking monster? Really wanna stop this giant asshole? 90 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE STREETS ON THE SAME WEEKEND! THESE REPUBLICAN ASSHOLES ARE ALL IN ON IT! THE CHIEF ASSHOLE IS HAPPY WE ARE ALL VERY UPSET. WE HAVE TO GET EVEN MORE ANGRY WITH THESE REPUBLICANS
— Peter Henry Fonda (@iamfonda) June 20, 2018
It’s more than a protest! 90 million people in the streets on the same weekend works. I can’t be the organizer for they’ll arrest me for conspiracy to commit sedition. This must be like a spontaneous event without seeming to be organized by me and we have to make this happen NOW https://t.co/be9IDUN15c
— Peter Henry Fonda (@iamfonda) June 20, 2018
Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to end the practice of separating children from parents accused of illegally crossing the border.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, on Wednesday asked whether Sony “will apply the same rules to @iamfonda as they did to @therealroseanne,” tying the company with ABC, the TV network that canceled actress Rosanne Barr’s hit TV show, after she made racist comments against a former White House adviser on Twitter last month.
And another… now Fonda is targeting the kids of Law Enforcment. Hey @SonyPictures are you just going to sit back and let this & his child rape fantasies go? Your silence almost reads like you’re ok with it. Please clarify as I’ve heard you have a movie with him dropping soon https://t.co/qgKzFUNijV
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 20, 2018
As an FYI @SonyPictures has a movie with him dropping in a few days. I wonder if they will apply the same rules to @iamfonda that they did to @therealroseanne. I have a strange suspicion that they wont do anything. Please RT, we deserve an answer! https://t.co/j38NnlJKn7
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 20, 2018
After Sony released their statement, Trump Jr. returned to Twitter Thursday morning to say: “So @iamfonda can suggest kidnapping and putting a child in a cage with pedophiles and @sonyclassics won’t do anything! I guess that’s ok if you’re a liberal.”
“If you’re a conservative you’d face real consequences. Great work @SonyPictures. Let them know your thoughts?” he continued.
So @iamfonda can suggest kidnapping and putting a child in a cage with pedophiles and @sonyclassics won’t do anything! I guess that’s ok if you’re a liberal. If you’re a conservative you’d face real consequences. Great work @SonyPictures. Let them know your thoughts? https://t.co/O5fBcRmq97
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 21, 2018
And despite calls for Peter Fonda to be banned from Twitter, his account still remains active.
Will @Twitter @TwitterSupport suspend @iamfonda for using this platform to call for an innocent child to be put in a cage with pedophiles? https://t.co/8JUk8Z6CEq
— Sergio Gor (@SergioGor) June 20, 2018
Fonda issued an apology to the Wrap saying: “I tweeted something highly inappropriate and vulgar about the president and his family in response to the devastating images I was seeing on television,” Fonda said in a statement. “Like many Americans, I am very impassioned and distraught over the situation with children separated from their families at the border, but I went way too far. It was wrong and I should not have done it. I immediately regretted it and sincerely apologize to the family for what I said and any hurt my words have caused.”
