Jane Fonda is playfully teasing Barbra Streisand, who attended the 2026 Oscars to pay tribute to her late co-star and friend Robert Redford.
“I want to know how come Streisand was up there doing that for Redford?” Fonda quipped during an interview with Entertainment Tonight at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Sunday night. “She only made one movie with him; I made four! I have more to say.”
Streisand took to the stage during the award show’s In Memoriam segment to honor Redford, who died in September last year at age 89. During her emotional tribute, the legendary singer performed a section of “The Way We Were,” the title track of Sydney Pollack’s 1973 romantic drama, which starred Redford and Streisand.
“Now, Bob had real backbone on and off the screen,” the Funny Girl actress also said of the late actor in her speech. “He spoke up to defend freedom of the press, protect the environment and encouraged new voices at his Sundance Institute — some of whom are up for Oscars tonight, which is so great. He was thoughtful and bold. I called him an intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail. … I miss him now more than ever, even though he loved teasing me.”
While the 80 for Brady actress didn’t get to deliver her own tribute during the Oscars telecast, she took a moment while chatting with ET to share a few heartfelt words about Redford.
“I was always in love with him,” Fonda said with a laugh. “The most gorgeous human being and such great values. And he did a lot for movies, he really changed movies, lifted up independent movies.”
Redford and Fonda were frequent collaborators throughout their respective careers, having co-starred in 1960’s The Tall Story, 1966’s The Chase, 1967’s Barefoot in the Park and 2017’s Our Souls at Night.
At the time of the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid star’s death, both Fonda and Streisand took to their respective Instagram accounts to remember the actor.
“Bob made a real difference in all good ways,” Fonda wrote in part. “He represented an America we must now fight to protect. He revolutionized independent film making and made us swoon in so many movies. I am very sad today. Cried all morning. But luckily I can think back on so many joyful, laughter-filled moments when his practical jokes would crack me up. I feel so lucky to have made one of his first big movies with him, Barefoot in the Park (I fell madly in love with him on that one) and his last (the aforementioned Souls at Night).”
Streisand shared at the time, “Every day on the set of The Way We Were was exciting, intense and pure joy. We were such opposites: he was from the world of horses; I was allergic to them! Yet, we kept trying to find out more about each other, just like the characters in the movie. Bob was charismatic, intelligent, intense, always interesting — and one of the finest actors ever. The last time I saw him, when he came to lunch, we discussed art and decided to send each other our first drawings. He was one of a kind and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him.”
The 98th Academy Awards, hosted by O’Brien, were held on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. Find the full list of winners here, and check out the red carpet arrivals.
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