A Kentucky theater owner has banned the number one movie in America, The Butler, from his theater because he says that actress Jane Fonda is "an enemy of the United States of America."
MoviePalaceand Showtime Cinemas owner Ike Boutwell told The News-Enterprise that he was not interested any of the $25 million that Lee Daniel's film about an African-American butler who served eight United States presidents had made during its opening weekend because Fonda had brought disgrace to the screen with her portrayal of former First Lady Nancy Reagan.
"I was a military flight instructor during the Vietnam War, taught hundreds of pilots to fly, many of whom Ms. Fonda clapped and cheered as they were shot down and killed," the retired Marine explained. "That's treason, right in our Constitution... aid and comfort to the enemy."
Boutwell said that it would be a "terrible dishonorment on my part to give money to a woman" such as Fonda.
He added that it would be "throwing gas on the fire" to support a "person of treason" as she portrayed a "patriotic lady" like Nancy Reagan.
"I'm a former Marine, I've got a long memory," Boutwell pointed out. "I just -- I cannot give up to the enemy, and Ms. Fonda, as far as I'm concerned, is an enemy of the United States of America. That's exactly how I feel about it."
Fonda was branded with the nickname "Hanoi Jane" after being photographed with North Vietnamese soldiers in 1972. Earlier this year, she described the photo as "an unforgivable mistake."
"I was an emotional wreck," Fonda said of the last day of her visit to North Vietnam. "I don't know if I was set up or not. I was an adult. I take responsibility for my actions."
