Jane Fonda, 'Oppenheimer' stars sign open letter to 'make nukes history' ahead of Oscars

Stars are banding together ahead of the 2024 Oscars on Sunday to call for the end of nuclear weaponry, including "Oppenheimer" cast members Matthew Modine and Tony Goldwyn.

Modine, Goldwyn, Michael Douglas, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Lisa Rinna, Kristen Stewart, Emma Thompson and Yvette Nicole Brown are among the celebrities who signed an open letter calling to "make nukes history."

"Every person should be educated about the incredible destructive power of nuclear weapons. Understanding the threat illuminates a necessary path toward their elimination," said Modine in a press release shared by the Nuclear Threat Initiative. "Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been directly harmed by radioactive fallout from the hundreds of nuclear explosions conducted on US soil."

The "Oppenheimer" actor added: "From the moment of the first atomic bomb test at Los Alamos, New Mexico our entire planet has been at risk. We need to stop this insanity."

The "Make Nukes History" campaign kicks off on Friday in Los Angeles with billboards, art installations, murals and over 1,000 street posters. The nonprofit organization focused on ending nuclear and biological threats is tying the launch to the Oscar-nominated film "Oppenheimer," which details the origin of nuclear weapons with the Manhattan Project and J. Robert Oppenheimer's warning about using the technology he developed.

Oppenheimer’s grandson and activist Charles Oppenheimer also signed the open letter.

Opinion: Oscar nods honor 'Oppenheimer,' but what about Americans still suffering from nuke tests?

"Oppenheimer was right to warn us. Today, 13,000 nuclear weapons are held by nine countries. Some are 80 times more powerful than the ones that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945," the open letter states in part. "As artists and advocates, we want to raise our voices to remind people that while Oppenheimer is history, nuclear weapons are not."

Among one of the posters in the campaign is signage that says, "13 Oppenheimer Nominations; 13,000 Nuclear Weapons" to underscore the popularity of the Oscar-nominated film and the reality of the nuclear weapons magnitude.

Read the full letter here.

Fact-checking 'Oppenheimer': Was Albert Einstein really a friend? What's true, what isn't

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Oppenheimer' cast, Jane Fonda sign letter to end nuclear weapons use