NBC Apologizes for Jane Fonda's Curse

Zap2It.com | February 15, 2008

Jane Fonda

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Actress uttered obscenity on 'Today'

Jane Fonda uttering an obscenity is probably not the wake-up call "Today" show viewers were expecting Thursday.

That's what they got, however, followed soon after by an apology from NBC for allowing the word to be broadcast. The network categorized Fonda's utterance as a "slip" and said it didn't mean to offend anyone.

Fonda and playwright Eve Ensler appeared on "Today" Thursday morning to discuss Ensler's play "The Vagina Monologues" and her V-Day movement that aims to end violence against women. The Oscar-winning actress was set to perform in a V-Day benefit performance Thursday night and discussed how she got involved.

"I was asked to do a monologue called 'C***,' and I said, 'I don't think so. I've got enough problems,'" Fonda told co-anchor Meredith Vieira. "Then I came to New York to see Eve and it changed my life."

The word in question rhymes with "stunt."

The incident aired live to East Coast viewers, but NBC muted the word for tape-delayed broadcasts in other parts of the country. Vieira also apologized on-air a few moments later.

"Jane Fonda inadvertently said a word from the play that you don't say on television," Vieira said. "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."

When the inevitable FCC complaints come, it's unclear whether NBC would be subject to a fine. In 2006, the FCC dismissed a complaint about the use of the word "bulls**t" on CBS' "Early Show" on the grounds that it was a news program and therefore not subject to the same decency rules that entertainment programs are.