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“Good evening, everyone, and welcome to all of you who couldn’t get tickets to the White House cage fights.”

That was Robert De Niro’s opening crack as he spoke at Rise Up, Sing Out: A Concert for the First Amendment held in New York on Sunday night. Thrown by the Committee for the First Amendment and co-executive produced by Jane Fonda, the two-and-a-half-hour variety show served as a celebration of free speech, dishing up fierce pushback to Donald Trump and his agenda. Ironically, it took place at the same time as the White House’s controversial UFC match where a very different kind of free speech was on display.

Here at Manhattan’s Town Hall (chosen for its history with the suffragette movement), the event gathered some of Trump’s fiercest and outspoken detractors, from Fonda to De Niro, to Bette Midler and a host of advocates from across the spectrum who bemoaned the current state of US politics and the 47th president’s polarizing agenda.

“I don’t love a country that’s led by a racist, misogynist, xenophobic tyrant,” said De Niro, characteristically pulling no punches.

Speaking at the concert after the final event of his 25th annual Tribeca film festival earlier in the day, the actor continued to candidly express his opinion of Trump.

“When I hear Trump say, as he did a few days ago, ‘I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation, not even a little bit,’ I say, ‘Shut the fuck up,’” De Niro said, as the latter four words became a repeated refrain chanted by the audience.

Fonda used softer language but was just as fiery. “The government and its cronies are routinely violating the first amendment to silence artists, shuttering institutions like the Kennedy Center and defunding museums,” she said.

Advocacy is in Fonda’s blood. The event opened up with a reminder of her father Henry Fonda’s work as one of the original members of the Committee for the First Amendment, founded in support of the Hollywood Ten; the screenwriters blacklisted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1947 for suspected communist views.

The Committee for the First Amendment was revived by Fonda in 2025 in the wake of Trump winning a second term.

“What is really different from the last century is that the attacks are coming from every part of the government: the executive, the legislative and the supreme court,” she proclaimed in her opening salvo.

“There is a clear effort to destroy our fundamental Democratic rights and dramatically retake our form of government … no way,” she added. “I think the un-American Activities Committee right now is coming from the White House.”

Fonda pointed to the “hundreds of thousands of people” who were watching the event on a live stream, with many hosting watch parties and renting out theaters across the nation for the cathartic night that featured performances from the likes of Rufus Wainwright (who sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow) and Patti Smith (the singer and poet brought the crowd to its feet with her 1988 protest anthem People Have the Power).

Bette Midler sang a rousing version of Woody Guthrie’s 1944 protest song All You Fascists Bound to Lose, with updated lyrics like “We’re gonna win the midterms, we’re coming for his ass.”

“I’m so thrilled that you understand,” Midler told the audience. “I feel like I’m part of a community that is so bright, so intelligent, so well meaning, and so desperate for justice. I’ve been around a long time, but I’ve never been through what we’re living through now.”

Meanwhile, an array of speakers tackled marquee topics. Lily Gladstone, the actor who was raised on a Blackfeet Reservation, spoke about the Native American experience and New York’s heritage. 

“For many Americans, this era of division, of stolen speech, broken promises, families torn apart, of risking all you have for the simple right to exist as you are, may feel unprecedented,“ Gladstone said. “You may think, ‘How did we get here?’ For the first peoples of this land, unfortunately, this has been ongoing since the birth of this country as we know it today.”

Elsewhere, Julia Roberts recited a poem from Amanda Gorman in honor of Renée Good, the 37-year-old who was shot and killed by ICE in Minneapolis earlier this year.

“Renée Nicole Good was not a symbol,” Roberts said. “She was an American woman, a queer woman, who was doing the very best she could do to be good in an unjust world. I am honored to celebrate her life and legacy, because the life she gave is our responsibility to carry.”

The actor Wilson Cruz and RuPaul’s Drag Race star Peppermint shone a light on LGBTQ+ issues in light of the current Pride month. “ We live in a time where the spotlight is dangerous for so many trans Americans,” she said. “Trans children who should be living openly in their truth are intimidated by a government that cares more about censoring their bodies than feeding them.”

Also included were formerly detained children (who led the audience in song) as well as a trio of diverse faith leaders, including Rabbi Rachel Tomoner from Congregation Beth Elohim.

“As American Jews, we have been grateful to live in a country that has recognized and safeguarded our religion and all other religions as legitimate expressions of faith,” she said. “We have been grateful to live in a country that has protected us and others from the imposition of any religion by the state. These two ideas, the freedom to practice our religion and the freedom from religion, are essential to our safety and our belonging in America.”

As the night wrapped up, Fonda pointed to multiple action items for supporters, including a call to representatives to block the Paramount and Warner Bros merger.

“We have sung out, and now it’s time for us to rise up,” she said to cheers.