This weekend, as President Donald Trump celebrates his 80th birthday with a UFC fight on the White House South Lawn—as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations—protesters are throwing a star-studded political concert in New York City, with streaming watch parties nationwide.
On Sunday, June 14, the Committee for the First Amendment (CFA) will host “Rise Up, Sing Out: A Concert for the First Amendment,” a 90-minute event featuring speeches and performances from Jane Fonda, Bette Midler, Patti Smith, Rufus Wainwright, and Sasha Allen. The benefit celebrates the right of all Americans to exercise their freedom of speech and religion, as well as to assemble and protest.
The concert is scheduled to take place at The Town Hall in New York City at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday evening. From churches to breweries, there are close to 500 watch parties planned all across the country in red states and blue, with several thousand people signed up to watch from home, according to concert organizers.
“[We] believe art and music are cornerstones of anti-authoritarian resistance,” CFA steering committee member Bruce Cohen tells Fast Company. “When the stories our government tells are designed to make us feel powerless and alone, art tells a different story: one of courage, connection, and collective strength. Our goal . . . is to create a space where joy, resistance, and solidarity can take center stage and be heard all over the country. Every protest movement in history has been sustained by moments of hope and togetherness like this one—and we intend to make this one count.”
Event partners Indivisible and No Kings are co-hosting neighborhood events, where community members will gather, watch the “Rise Up, Sing Out” concert, and discuss how to continue building the pro-democracy protest movement.
The concert and hyper-local gatherings differ from previous “No Kings” protests and rallies, which have drawn millions of Americans into the streets since the beginning of Trump’s second term.
“We’ve shown our power in the streets time and time again, and we’re now bringing that power even more deeply into our neighborhoods,” the No Kings Coalition tells Fast Company. “While politicians from the White House to state houses all across this country act like unaccountable kings, we’ll be doing the real work of bringing communities together in living rooms, community centers, and businesses across America.”
The Committee for the First Amendment was initially created during the McCarthy Era, when the federal government famously targeted and blacklisted Hollywood actors, writers, and directors, along with elected officials, government employees, and academics. Its original members included actors Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Huston, Henry Fonda, and Lucille Ball.
Jane Fonda relaunched the group in 2025, to protect “free expression against government repression, industry complicity, and intimidation.” It now has over 550 members, including Spike Lee, Barbra Streisand, Ben Stiller, Billie Eilish, Jamie Lee Curtis, Viola Davis, Whoopi Goldberg, Pedro Pascal, Natalie Portman, and Michael Keaton.
