Jane Fonda Lets the "C" Word Fly on the Today Show

By Anastacia Mott Austin

What is the world coming to? First Diane Keaton let fly the f-word on "Good Morning America," and now, even worse, Jane Fonda says the c-word on the Today Show.

To be fair, she didn’t just blurt it out as part of her morning chat with "Today Show" host Meredith Vieira.

Fonda was appearing on the NBC show along with playwright Eve Ensler, who penned "The Vagina Monologues." The two were on "The Today Show" to promote the 10th anniversary of Ensler’s V-Day benefit, in which celebrities perform scenes from the play to raise money for awareness and prevention of violence to women.

Vieira asked Fonda how she had become involved in the project, and Jane said she had been approached by Ensler to perform a scene, the title of which is the naughty word Fonda uttered.

"I was asked to do a monologue called C… (use your imagination, readers), and I said, ‘I don’t think so, I’ve got enough problems’," said Fonda, live on the air.

Fonda then added, "Then I came to New York to see Eve and it changed my life."

Not ten minutes later Vieira issued an apology to viewers who may have been offended by the use of the word. "Jane Fonda inadvertently said a word from the play that you don’t say on television," said Vieira. "It was a slip and obviously she apologizes and so do we. We would do nothing to offend the audience, so please accept that apology."

For viewers in later time zones, the word was either silenced or replaced with a still photo.

Fonda’s publicist later issued a statement saying that the actress did not mean to offend anyone with the word, emphasizing that it was the title of a monologue, not a word she uses in everyday conversation.

As for Ensler, she is irritated at all of the hoopla surrounding the word, saying that the focus of her benefit is to help women and that the media is honing its attention in the wrong place.

"I'm always surprised that people focus on these issues, when one of three women in the world are being raped and beaten and violated," said Ensler, 54, to the press.

During the evening of February 14th, at her V-Day benefit, Ensler asked reporters, "Why is there a buzz about [the word] when there’s no buzz about the word ‘rape’ or ‘plutonium’ or ‘clusterbomb’?"

The benefit, held this year at the Hammerstein ballroom in New York, began 10 years ago and is well-attended by the Hollywood glitterati. Well-known actresses are asked by Ensler to perform scenes or monologues from her play, "The Vagina Monologues." Past performers have included Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon, Glenn Close, Calista Flockhart, and many others.

Every year the benefit honors a group of women who "resist violence with courage and vision." This year the group honored women they called "The Katrina Warriors," women who had survived Hurricane Katrina, "for or their strength and resilience in the face of devastating loss."

As for Jane Fonda, she doesn’t really see what all the fuss is about. Though her representative did issue an apology, she still thinks it wasn’t that big a deal. "I’m sorry if I offended anybody," said Fonda at the benefit, adding, "I think it’s pretty silly."