Jane Fonda has playfully questioned why Barbra Streisand was chosen to lead the tribute to Robert Redford at the 2026 Academy Awards, noting that she had a longer professional history with the late actor.
Speaking on the red carpet at an Oscars afterparty, Fonda said: “I want to know how come Streisand was up there doing that for Redford?” She added that while Streisand “only made one movie with him, I made four … I have more to say.”
Streisand’s tribute was one of three extended segments in the ceremony’s in memoriam section, alongside those for Rob Reiner and Diane Keaton. She recalled working with Redford on the 1973 film The Way We Were, and praised his commitment to freedom of the press, environmental protection, and independent cinema through the Sundance Institute.
Fonda, now 88, starred with Redford in four films: The Chase (1966), Barefoot in the Park (1967), The Electric Horseman (1979), and Our Souls at Night (2017). After his death in October, she posted on Instagram: “I can’t stop crying. He meant a lot to me and was a beautiful person in every way.”
