Jane Fonda Finally Speaks Out on Ex-Husband Ted Turner — Why Nothing’s Been the Same Since

Some sad news: Ted Turner has died at 87, and Jane Fonda is the one telling the story of who he really was. Fonda, 88, posted a long, very personal tribute on Instagram on Wednesday, May 6, and it reads like a love letter to a complicated giant who changed media, loved competition, and, yes, kept score on just about everything.

Fonda remembers the man she married

"He swept into my life, a gloriously handsome, deeply romantic, swashbuckling pirate and I've never been the same."

Fonda and Turner were married from 1991 to 2001, and she says he not only loved her, he needed her — something she had never felt from anyone before. That combination, being needed and being cared for, is how she describes the shift in her life. She credits Turner with helping her believe in herself and boosting her confidence, and she argues that his willingness to show need and vulnerability — the kind most men are taught to hide — was actually his greatest strength.

• Who he was: the creator of CNN and Turner Classic Movies; an America's Cup winner and, in Fonda's view, one of sailing's greats; a big life, sharp mind, and a sense of humor that could fill a room.
• Their timeline: married 1991–2001. Even after the split, she often called him her favorite ex-husband. (For context: Fonda was also married to Roger Vadim and Tom Hayden.)
• How he treated her: he made it clear he needed her and took care of her in ways she didn't know she needed; she says it changed her and gave her confidence. She believes she did the same for him.
• The strategist: he studied the Classics in college, devoured the Peloponnesian War, and pored over the playbooks of Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. Piloting big boats honed that instincts-meet-math brain, and he brought the same strategic sense to his businesses. In her words, he could see around corners.
• The competitor: she ranks him just behind Katharine Hepburn as the most competitive person she ever met. He kept tallies on ski runs, acres of land (she prefers the word "stewarded"), even billions. The curveball: he once measured how many countries he had made love in with a previous partner and asked if she could match it. That is very Ted.
• The conservationist: she pictures him arriving in heaven to a standing ovation from species he helped pull back from the brink — black-footed ferrets, prairie dogs, bighorn sheep, the Mexican gray wolf, the Yellowstone wolf pack, bison, the red-cockaded woodpecker, and more.
• The family: Turner's five kids — Laura, Teddy, Beau, Rhett, and Jennie — get a special shout-out. Fonda, who grew up with four stepmothers, says they worked hard to build a big, messy, loving extended family. If it was complicated to be married to him, she notes, imagine being his child — and she adds they're all doing just fine.

She closes simply: Rest in peace, dearest Ted. You are loved, and you will be remembered.

CNN's farewell to its founder

Mark Thompson, CNN Worldwide's chairman and CEO, called Turner an involved, fearless leader who trusted his gut and backed his hunches.

"He was and always will be the presiding spirit of CNN."

An official cause of death has not been announced. Turner had been battling Lewy body dementia prior to his passing.