A billionaire shelled out big bucks to fly Jane Fonda to Austria to be his date for a gala — but it surely backfired when the actress and climate activist went rogue after which put the event on blast.
Thursday’s Vienna Opera Ball is the highlight of the Austrian social season and Fonda is that this 12 months’s guest of Austrian shopping-mall magnate Richard Lugner, who has reportedly paid as much as half one million dollars for celebrities comparable to Kim Kardashian to accompany him to the annual fundraiser.
Lugner reportedly rolled out the red carpet for the 85-year-old “Grace & Frankie” star who was welcomed to Austria’s capital city with a bouquet, a photograph op and a stretch limousine — all of which she declined to just accept. As an alternative, the “Book Club” star tore up her script for the week, and made her own itinerary as an alternative, touring museums and galleries in Vienna, sans Lugner, in keeping with the Irish Times.
She then ranted that fossil fuel firms are “criminal,” after learning that oil and gas company OMV was a sponsor for the ball.
“Until yesterday I assumed I used to be going to the opera with this man, now I’ve learned that it’s a preferred ball,” Fonda told The Irish Times at a news conference ahead of the event.
She also told reporters she won’t be dancing together with her 90-year-old date. She then used her platform to trumpet climate activism.
“These fossil fuel firms are criminal, they’re killing people and killing the planet,” she said. She then urged people to “do the whole lot we will to stop the climate crisis becoming an out-of-control catastrophe.
“I engage in civil disobedience, I get arrested similar to people gluing themselves to the road, more people listen and, little by little, people start doing something,” she said.
Lugner reportedly appeared uneasy on the press event, saying little.
Fonda admitted she was only in attendance because she was paid “quite a little bit of money,” though it’s unclear exactly how much.
A rep for Lugner didn’t immediately return a request for comment, and a rep for Fonda declined to comment.
In previous years, Lugner has forked over plenty of dough to secure A-list arm candy for the annual ball, including Kardashian, who attended in 2014.
But the truth star was too busy filming her show — and hardly gave him the time of day.
“She’s filming [for ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’] and so she doesn’t wish to have me around,” Lugner told the Los Angeles Times after the event. “The guest needs to be with me and never anywhere else that shouldn’t be agreed upon.”
In 2010, Lugner told The Post he enjoyed the corporate of Faye Dunaway and Grace Jones and noted that they were “great dancers.”
Pamela Anderson, Dita Von Teese and the late Raquel Welch have also previously attended as Lugner’s paid guests — as did Lindsay Lohan, who also turned out to be something of a diva.
Lugner told The Post the actress desired to “change among the dates,” and refused to select a gown ahead of time, as an alternative waiting until the last minute. Her handlers also mandated there be no alcohol in Lohan’s sight, leaving Lugner’s team to play baby-sitter.
“[Lohan’s] managers have told us to ensure that she doesn’t drink during her trip,” Lugner said.
Still, a minimum of Lohan reportedly shared a dance with him.
Fonda, alternatively, noted: “I actually have a man-made shoulder and hip substitute, I would disintegrate.”
