Jane Fonda has expressed disappointment over not being chosen by the Academy to pay tribute to the late Robert Redford at the 2026 Oscars on Sunday, March 15.
Instead, Barbara Streisand was the one who honored the actor, who passed away at age 89 on September 16, 2025, during the ceremony’s In Memoriam segment.
Fonda based her disagreement on the fact that she had done four films with Redford — The Chase, Barefoot in the Park, The Electric Horsemen, and Our Souls at Night — while Streisand did just one, a romantic drama titled The Way We Were.
Highlights
- Jane Fonda playfully questioned why Barbra Streisand was chosen to honor Robert Redford at the 2026 Oscars In Memoriam, citing her own extensive film history with him.
- Streisand reflected on working with Redford in The Way We Were and praised his impact on film, freedom of the press, the environment, and indie cinema through the Sundance Institute.
- The In Memoriam segment also honored Rob Reiner, Diane Keaton, and other industry legends.
“I want to know how come Streisand was up there doing that for Redford,” she said in an interview.
Jane Fonda wanted to be the one honoring Robert Redford in the Oscars In Memoriam
Image credits: Getty/Kevin Winter
“I have more to say,” the 88-year-old actress declared to Entertainment Tonight at the Vanity Fair annual Oscars party.
With a laugh, she referred to her numerous projects with her late friend and co-star, before revealing, “I was always in love with him.”
Image credits: Getty/Images Press
Fonda described Redford as “the most gorgeous human being” who possessed “great values.”
“And he did a lot for movies; he really changed movies, lifted independent movies,” she further acknowledged.
Redford, notably, was a pioneering force behind the Utah/US Film Festival, which began in 1978 and is known today as the Sundance Film Festival.
The festival, dedicated to showcasing indie movies, was started by Sterling Van Wagenen, the head of Redford’s Wildwood Enterprises. Redford served as the inaugural chairman of the same.
Image credits: Getty/Karwai Tang
In 1981, Redford established the Sundance Institute, a nonprofit to support independent artists. He remained the president of the same until his passing.
When Fonda first received the news of Redford’s demise, the actress shared in a statement with various outlets, “I can’t stop crying. He meant a lot to me.”
Barbara Streisand, in the In Memoriam segment for Robert Redford, recalled their time working on their movie
Image credits: Getty/Dimitrios Kambouris
“After I read the first script of The Way We Were, I could only imagine one man in the role of Hubbell Gardiner, and that was Robert Redford,” Streisand said.
She shared that Redford had originally turned down the role because he felt his character “had no backbone.”
“He doesn’t stand for anything,” Streisand recalled Redford explaining, adding, “he was right.”
Redford only played his part after several drafts, Streisand noted, as she went on to describe him as “a brilliant, subtle actor.”
“We had a wonderful time playing off each other because we never quite knew what the other one was going to do in a scene,” she noted.
Streisand also highlighted Redford’s commitment to defending freedom of the press, protecting the environment, and welcoming new voices in film through the Sundance Institute, saying he had backbone “off the screen” as well.
🎥: OUR SOULS AT NIGHT pic.twitter.com/r3nnK6LlQ0
— Netflix (@netflix) September 16, 2025
“I called him an intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail,” she said, closing her tribute with a performance of the theme song The Way We Were.
Other stars joining Robert Redford in the 2026 Oscars In Memoriam included Rob Reiner and Diane Keaton
Image credits: Getty/Steve Granitz
Rob Reiner, best known for directing When Harry Met Sally, and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, who were slain by their son, Nick Reiner, on December 14, were eulogized by Billy Crystal, the lead of the iconic 1989 rom-com co-starring Meg Ryan.
“My friend Rob’s movies will last a lifetime because they’re about what makes us laugh and cry and what we aspire to be,” Crystal told the Oscars audience.
Rachel McAdams then took the stage to pay tribute to Oscar-winning screen legend Diane Keaton, who passed away on October 11 at age 79, of bacterial pneumonia. The two starred in The Family Stone and Morning Glory.
McAdams described Keaton as “an icon,” stating there was no actress of her generation who was not “inspired by and enthralled with her absolute singularity.”
The actress also remembered her “fellow Canadian,” Catherine O’Hara, who passed away this January, saying, “She made us laugh until we cried.”
Stars left out of the In Memoriam segment, meanwhile, were James Van Der Beek, Eric Dane, Malcolm Jamal Warner, Robert Carradine, June Lockhart, and Brigitte Bardot.
Others who appeared only on the Academy’s website but not on the broadcast includedGeorge Wendt, Julian McMahon, James Ransome, Danielle Spencer, Loretta Swit, and Demond Wilson.
Some of these figures were known more for their television work, but also had some film appearances on their resumes.
"Four movies. Fonda's got the bragging rights!" a netizen remarked
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