Opera Ball star guest Jane Fonda: Richard Lugner is “amazing”

The Viennese building contractor Richard “Mörtel” Lugner (90) presented this year’s Opera Ball star guest Jane Fonda (85) at the traditional press conference on Wednesday. The Hollywood star rebuked the host for speaking to someone behind Fonda’s back. “Pscht!” she said, putting a finger to her lips and explaining, “I can’t concentrate, I’m tired.”

Jane Fonda will not be dancing at the Opera Ball

she answered the journalists’ questions “relaxed and in a good mood, with a lot of shame”.

Among other things, the elegant actress admitted to a mix-up: “I’ll be honest, until yesterday I thought I was going to an opera performance,” she revealed. She summarized what she now expects from the evening of the ball: “Maybe I’ll visit the President, give interviews, watch people dance and then go back to sleep.” The 85-year-old does not plan to dance herself. “I’m old and could fall apart,” she said, referring to her artificial shoulder and hip.

She said of host Lugner: “He’s amazing”. And further: “He was married as often as my father, five times, that’s okay.”

Jane Fonda has been committed to environmental protection for some time. That was also an issue in Vienna. The actress admitted she was paid a “huge amount of money” by Lugner. This year she has to earn money because she is dedicating herself entirely to the climate crisis and is not turning. “It’s a way for me to make some money,” Fonda said.

Star guests since the early 1990s

The Vienna Opera Ball takes place on February 16th. Star guests have accompanied the building contractor to the social event since the early 1990s, including Ivana Trump, Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian and Melanie Griffith.