Jane Fonda has taken to social media to remember her longtime “bestie” Paula Weinstein, who died on March 25 at 78 years old, as well as share how people can honor her late friend.
“I’VE LOST MY BESTIE, PAULA WEINSTEIN. Paula was everything a friend should be — to me and to so many people. I’ve been sitting Shivah in her NY apartment with so many people who also think of her as their best friend and I’m feeling jealous, to be honest,” the Oscar-winning actress wrote in a lengthy post on Instagram on Thursday. “Paula could make all of us laugh harder than anyone else could. She was always good for a real belly laugh.”
Weinstein was a longtime Tribeca executive and producer who worked on dozens of projects throughout her career, including The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Perfect Storm, Analyze This and Grace and Frankie.
“Many young women who worked with her at the Tribeca Film Festival are here, telling me what an amazing mentor she was for them … always having them in the room where decisions were happening, so they’d learn,” Fonda continued. “Many women she’s mentored have since gone on to run programming at major studios. That is how people live forever … they’ve mattered in people’s life.”
Weinstein and Fonda not only had a close bond outside of work but also collaborated on numerous projects, from Monster-in-Law (2005) to This Is Where I Leave You (2014) and, most recently, the hit TV series Grace and Frankie.
“But way more than that: Paula was the one I turned to when I had a problem,” Fonda wrote in her tribute. “The one my children turned to when there were family problems and she’d help work things out. I am godmother to her beautiful daughter, Hannah. She was godmother to my children.”
She added, “Paula was a complete hypochondriac, but in a good way. She always insisted, for example, on researching doctors for me when I needed my various joint replacements. After yesterday’s Shivah, I woke up immediately wanting to call Paula to tell her how many people I was with who love her. Then I remembered …”
The 80 for Brady star concluded her social media post with a request on behalf of Weinstein’s family: “Those who wish to honor Paula, lend their efforts to the reelection of President Biden and Vice President Harris, and Democrats up and down the ballot.”
Fonda and Weinstein have been outspoken about political matters, having both been involved in antiwar protests dating back to the 1960s. The latter also exited Tribeca Enterprises in September 2023 to work on political campaigns. She was also a founding member of the Hollywood Women’s Political Committee, which raised millions of dollars for Democratic candidates for more than two decades.