Jane Fonda leads tributes to ex-husband and CNN founder Ted Turner
Jane Fonda and CNN founder Ted Turner (Jason DeCrow/AP)
Jane Fonda has paid tribute to Ted Turner, her ex-husband and the founder of US news network CNN, after his death aged 87.
The award-winning actress paid tribute to her “dearest Ted” in an emotional post to Instagram and told of how he changed her life, and said she “loved him with all my heart”.
Turner was a brash and outspoken television pioneer, best known for creating the modern 24-hour news culture with the launch of CNN in 1980.
His media company Turner Enterprises announced his death on Tuesday, and a post on its website said he “died peacefully” and “surrounded by his family”.
Fonda, 88, shared an old photo of her in an embrace with her ex-husband in a post to her 2.7 million followers on Wednesday as she paid tribute, and said Turner “swept into my life, a gloriously handsome, deeply romantic, swashbuckling pirate and I’ve never been the same”.
The actress, also known for her 1980s home workout videos, wrote: “He needed me. No one had ever let me know they needed me, and this wasn’t your average human being that needed me, this was the creator of CNN, and Turner Classic Movies, who had won the America’s Cup as the world’s greatest sailor.
“He had a big life, a brilliant mind and a soaring sense of humour.”
Fonda continued: “Ted Turner helped me believe in myself. He gave me confidence. I think I did the same for him, but that’s what women are raised to do.
“Men like Ted aren’t supposed to express need and vulnerability. That was Ted’s greatest strength, I believe.”
Turner, who owned professional sports teams in Atlanta and defended the America’s Cup in yachting in 1977, was also remembered by Fonda as “the most competitive person I have ever met”.
She added: “Ted was challenging, but I’ve always been up for a challenge, and with Ted it was almost always worth it.
“I loved Ted with all my heart.”
Concluding her lengthy tribute, she wrote: “Five children survive him, five talented, complex kids who I had the privilege of becoming stepmother to.
“I had four stepmothers growing up and I know how important stepmothers can be, so we all did our best to build an extended, rag tag family, and I love them to this day.
“If it was complicated to be married to him, think how complicated it was being his child. And they are all doing fine.
“Rest in Peace, dearest Ted. You are loved and you will be remembered.”
Turner, who was nicknamed Captain Outrageous and The Mouth of the South for his controversial statements, tied the knot with Fonda in 1991 and their decade-long marriage ended in 2001.
The media mogul has also been remembered by US President Donald Trump, who took to Truth Social to describe him as “one of the greats of broadcast history, and a friend of mine”.
Current CNN chief executive and chairman Mark Thompson also paid tribute to Turner, hailing him as “the giant on whose shoulders we stand, and we will all take a moment today to recognise him and his impact on our lives and the world”.
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