How Jane Fonda Really Feels About Barbra Streisand’s Oscars Tribute to Robert Redford
Jane Fonda candidly shared her thoughts on Barbra Streisand’s emotional tribute to Robert Redford during the 2026 Oscars: “She’s only made one movie with him.”
Jane Fonda had hoped for the opportunity to honor her late friend.
After Barbra Streisand’s emotional tribute to Robert Redford during the 2026 Academy Awards, the 88-year-old had one question.
“I wanna know how come Streisand was up there doing that for Redford?” Jane quipped to Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party on March 15. “She only made one movie with him I made four. I have more to say.”
Indeed, Jane—who starred alongside Robert in The Chase, Barefoot in the Park, The Electric Horseman and Our Souls at Night—was filled with memories of her iconic friend, who died in September at 89.
“I was always in love with him,” Jane said. “The most gorgeous human being and such great values and he did a lot for movies. He really changed movies, lifted up independent movies.”
In September, the Grace and Frankie star, whose onscreen collaborations with Robert spanned over five decades, shared insight into her bond with the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance King star.
“It hit me hard this morning when I read that Bob was gone,” Jane shared in a statement to E! News. “I can’t stop crying. He meant a lot to me and was a beautiful person in every way.”
She added of the longtime political and environmental activist, “He stood for an America we have to keep fighting for.”
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty ImagesAs for Barbra, she looked back on her own dynamic with Robert as she celebrated his life and legacy during the Oscars’ In Memoriam segment.
“I miss him now more than ever, even how he loved teasing me,” the Funny Girl star remarked. “He’d call me, ‘Babs.’ And I’d say, ‘Bob, you know, do I look like a Babs?’ But the way he said it made me laugh.”
“Many years later, we were chatting on the phone about the usual, politics, art, [Amedeo] Modigliani—our favorite,” she continued. “And as we were hanging up, he said, ‘Babs, I love you dearly, and I always will.’”
Barbara further doted on Robert’s activism and overall charm adding, “He was thoughtful and bold,” she said. “I called him an intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail.”
And, paying tribute to their time onscreen together, she ended the extended In Memoriam—which also honored Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, Catherine O’Hara and Diane Keaton among many others—singing an emotional rendition their film’s Oscar-winning title track, “The Way We Were.”
For more moments from inside the 2026 Academy Awards, keep reading…
John Shearer/98th Oscars/Getty Images The Academy via Getty ImagesRyan Coogler & Paul Thomas Anderson
At this point in the night, the Sinners and One Battle After Another directors were just a couple of auteurs clutching their first-ever Oscars, Coogler for Best Original Screenplay and PTA for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty ImagesKylie Jenner & Timothée Chalamet
Jenner is officially a regular, accompanying Best Actor nominee Chalamet to the Oscars for the second year in a row.
And the Kylie Cosmetics mogul was excited to see Sentimental Value star Elle Fanning, her boyfriend’s A Complete Unknown costar from his 2025 award season run and a nominee this year for Best Supporting Actress.
Fanning later gave Chalamet a consolatory pat on the back after Michael B. Jordan reigned supreme in the Best Actor race.
John Shearer/98th Oscars/Getty Images The Academy via Getty ImagesTeyana Taylor & Cassandra Kulukundis
While fellow attendees started ripping into their Conan O’Brien-sanctioned snacks, Taylor celebrated One Battle After Another‘s casting director for winning the first-ever Oscar for Best Casting.
Once again, the returning host left a note with the box of treats, this time reading, “I hope you enjoy this Conan O’Brien ‘Moderately Happy Meal’ ™. These snacks may not look like much but in any movie theater they would run you $85.”
Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesJacob Elordi
The Frankenstein star, a first-time Oscar nominee in the Best Supporting Actor category, made the rounds in between awards.
Emma McIntyre/Getty ImagesStellan Skarsgård
Losing the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to Sean Penn didn’t dampen the Sentimental Value star’s spirits.
Enjoying a drink in a VIP area afterward, Skarsgård told a well-wisher, per the Los Angeles Times, “We had four actor nominations on an international film. That’s never happened before.”
Not to mention, the Joaquim Trier-directed Norwegian film was named Best International Feature.
John Shearer/98th Oscars/Getty Images The Academy via Getty ImagesPedro Pascal & Sigourney Weaver
Weaver’s trying and failing not to burst out laughing before the duo headed out to present Best Production Design (to Frankenstein) and Best Visual Effects (to Avatar: Fire & Ash).
John Shearer/98th Oscars/Getty Images The Academy via Getty ImagesChase Infiniti & Paul Thomas Anderson
After making her acting debut in One Battle After Another, Infiniti couldn’t have been more thrilled over how the night was going.
Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty ImagesWinners for Best Original Song
Mark Sonnenblick tried to keep the commercial break at bay, to no avail, when one of his fellow songwriters was cut off mid-sentence while accepting “Golden’s” historic when for Best Original Song.
John Shearer/98th Oscars/Getty Images The Academy via Getty ImagesDemi Moore & Mikey Madison
Madison may have come out ahead in the Best Actress race last year, but they still enjoyed a reunion of substance.
John Shearer/98th Oscars/Getty Images The Academy via Getty ImagesPauline Chalamet & Timothée Chalamet
There was plenty of room for family in the Marty Supreme row, Chalamet’s sister joining him and Jenner for a night out.
John Shearer/98th Oscars/Getty Images The Academy via Getty ImagesRachel McAdams & Sterling K. Brown
This is not us, but rather two actors having a moment near the makeup chair backstage at the Academy Awards. No need to send help.
John Shearer/98th Oscars/Getty Images The Academy via Getty ImagesNicole Kidman
The 2003 Best Actress winner didn’t mind whiling away a few more of the hours at the 2026 Oscars.
John Shearer/98th Oscars/Getty Images The Academy via Getty ImagesMichael B. Jordan & Leonardo DiCaprio
DiCaprio was on hand to celebrate Jordan’s golden moment, as he surged in the final days of voting to win Best Actor.
Mark Von Holden/The AcademyOdessa A’zion
The Marty Supreme actress toasted to the Oscars with a mini bottle of Tequila Don Julio 1942.
Monica Schipper/Getty ImagesOscar
This was taken March 10 during the Governors Ball preview at the Ovation Hollywood Complex, a sneak peek at the glam spot where the winners go to get their statues engraved, but we thought you should see how the sausage, er, chocolate is made.
Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesPedro Pascal, Jesse Plemons & Kirsten Dunst
Cue the body language experts to decipher what, exactly, Pascal just saw on his phone.
Brianna Bryson/Getty ImagesAlexandre Singh & Natalie Musteata
Art reflected life for the directors of “Two People Exchanging Saliva,” who enjoyed their win for Best Live Action Short in the rarest of circumstances after finishing in a tie with “The Singers,” produced by Jack Piatt and directed by Sam A. Davis.
Mike Coppola/Getty ImagesJack Piatt, Sam A. Davis, Natalie Musteata & Alexandre Singh
It was the more the merrier as the dual pairs of winners had a ball backstage with their shiny new Oscars.
Piatt told reporters in the press room that he wished there could have been a “five-way tie” among all the nominees.
Al Seib / The Academy via Getty ImagesMichael B. Jordan
The Best Actor winner shared a quiet moment with Oscar before hitting In-N-Out on his way to the after-parties.
Richard Harbaugh / The Academy via Getty ImagesEmma Stone, Dave McCary, Demi Moore, Kate Hudson & Danny Fujikawa
The guy in the row with the longest arms is usually put on selfie duty, and tonight the honor went to Best Actress nominee Hudson’s partner.
Kidman just came to this place to get to her seat, but ended up playing a supporting role in a photo bomb.
