Jane Fonda Recounts Shocking Encounter with Director’s s=x Proposition

Jane Fonda recently shared a disturbing incident involving the late French director René Clément, who once made advances towards her in a questionable manner.

The acclaimed 85-year-old actress revealed during a segment of “Plead the Fifth” on the Bravo show Watch What Happens Live that Clément had propositioned her for s=x to gauge her ability to portray orgasms on screen.

The revelation came as host Andy Cohen posed a daring question to Fonda about an encounter with a man in Hollywood who had romantically pursued her but was turned down.

Without hesitation, Fonda recounted the unsettling experience with Clément, who directed her in the 1964 film Joy House.

She disclosed how he expressed the need to intimately understand her orgasms in order to authentically capture the character's emotions in the movie.

In the presence of her Book Club co-stars, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen, Fonda shared the shocking details of Clément's inappropriate request.

Despite the discomfort of the situation, Fonda handled it with grace by feigning ignorance of his intentions when he approached her.

At the time of filming Joy House, Jane Fonda was a youthful 27-year-old, while René Clément, a seasoned filmmaker with a distinguished career and accolades from Cannes Film Festival and BAFTA, was 51 years old.

Fonda, who later earned acclaim with two Academy Awards for her performances in Klute (1971) and Coming Home (1978), highlighted the vast age gap and power dynamics at play during her early days in the industry.

Reflecting on the incident, Fonda hinted at more untold stories from her career but noted the constraints of time.

The conversation shifted towards broader issues in Hollywood, particularly the prevalence of s–ual misconduct and abuse of authority.

When pressed to identify the most prominent misogynist in the industry, Fonda chose to withhold a direct response, invoking the famous “plead the fifth” refrain.