Lily Tomlin is the latest celebrity to be arrested while protesting inaction surrounding climate change. The actress was arrested Friday in the latest protest led by her Grace and Frankie co-star Jane Fonda.
Demonstrators shouted “Lily! Lily” as Tomlin and more than a dozen other demonstrators occupied the steps of the Capitol after a rally. The protest marked the 12th straight week of Fonda’s Fire Drill Friday demonstrations, which she plans to lead until mid-January when Grace and Frankie goes back into production.
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Fonda has been arrested in five of the previous protests, though she was not arrested on Friday.
.@LilyTomlin was just arrested because forests can’t wait! To maximize the climate benefit of forests, we must keep more forest landscapes intact, manage forests sustainably, and restore those that we have lost. #FireDrillFriday pic.twitter.com/xplGWayri4
— Fire Drill Fridays (@FireDrillFriday) December 27, 2019
Fonda has stopped occupying the steps of the Capitol in recent weeks, as she has to keep her distance from the demonstrations because she was facing a longer stay behind bars as the charges against her kept increasing. Fonda spent one night in jail.
She moved to Washington in the fall to help lead the demonstrations, inspired by teenage climate activist Greta Thunburg. The protests have taken place even when Congress was out of session and during holiday time periods, like Friday’s event and another one that was held the day after Thanksgiving.
Tomlin, 80, is just the latest star to be arrested at one of 82-year-old Fonda’s protests. In weeks past, celebrities like Sally Field, Diane Lane, Piper Perabo, Ted Danson and Fonda’s Grace and Frankie co-star Sam Waterston have been arrested.
Before Tomlin’s arrest, she and Fonda participated in a rally on the southeast lawn of the Capitol, with the theme of how climate change damages the world’s forests.
“We have got to stop hugging and start saving the trees,” Tomlin said, blasting one company in particular, BlackRock, for investing in firms that participate in deforestation and immigration detention camps. According to Deadline, Tomlin said that those immigrants include “climate refugees” or those who move from their homes for reasons related to climate change.
“These corporations are making oodles of money on the front end, oodles of money on the back end,” she said. “It is beyond reprehensible.”
Fonda said that the next two protests, on Jan. 3 and Jan. 10, would be devoted to “shaming the companies that are underwriting the fossil fuel industry.”
