Jane Fonda has a supporting role in Lee Daniels’ The Butler as Nancy Reagan, but that’s enough for one Kentucky theater owner to refuse to play the film, citing Fonda’s infamous anti-Vietnam War tour in 1970.
Movie Palace and Showtime Cinemas owner Ike Boutwell told Kentucky’s News-Enterprise that even though the movie has been a hit with audiences across the country, his audiences won’t see it. The Korean War veteran who trained pilots for Vietnam opened the theater in the late 1980s and has refused to show any films starring the two-time Oscar winner.
“I trained hundreds of pilots to fly, many of whom Ms. Fonda clapped and cheered as they were shot down,” Boutwell said. “Our Constitution only mentions three crimes. Treason is one. That’s aid and comfort to the enemy.”
He also said, “I just really think it’s a slap in the face to have a person of treason portray a patriotic lady, Mrs. Reagan. I just think that is throwing gas on the fire.”
Terrie Smith was a customer who had hoped to see The Butler at Boutwell’s theater in Elizabethtown, only to find that it wasn’t playing. She told the News-Tribune that she probably won’t be back, even to see other releases.
“In life, you’ve got to stand for something, and that’s where I stand,” Boutwell said. “It makes me feel that I’m honoring those who died for this country.”
The Butler grossed $25 million at the box office last weekend, opening at No. 1.
image: Photo by Ian Gavan/WireImage for Electrolux/image.net