Richard Dreyfuss sparked backlash for making misogynistic and homophobic comments at a weekend 'Jaws' screening.
Richard Dreyfuss has sparked outrage after making sexist and homophobic comments during a Jaws-themed event in Massachusetts over the weekend.
The 76-year-old actor, who played Hooper in the 1975 Steven Spielberg-directed shark thriller, attended a retrospective screening honoring the film at The Cabot Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts, on Saturday. Billed as "An Evening With Richard Dreyfuss + Jaws Screening," the weekend event included a Q&A session featuring the Oscar-winning actor.
According to footage of the event shared online, Dreyfuss began the Q&A portion of the evening by appearing onstage in a floral-printed blue dress, which he wore over a long-sleeved, button-down shirt and pants. The actor swung his cane like a baseball bat as he danced along to Taylor Swift's "Love Story" in the background.
The "rant" began after his entrance, during which Dreyfuss reportedly railed against Barbra Streisand, the #MeToo movement, the Academy Awards' inclusion rules and transgender youth.
Several attendees took to social media to share their experiences from the event and criticize Dreyfuss' alleged comments.
On X (formerly known as Twitter), one person wrote, "Came here to see if Richard Dreyfuss had been canceled tonight after appearing at #TheCabot in Beverly."
They later went into further detail about Dreyfuss' alleged remarks: "Started with #BarabraStreisand and her being a genius, then twisted and said he didn't listen to her suggestions because she's a woman and women shouldn't have any power, that they should be quiet and meek."
Noting that they were "paraphrasing" because the crowd had been heckling the actor, the user added, "When asked about the #MeToo movement he said 'those people make me want to vomit' and that he didn't want to listen to 8 year olds saying that they were born in the wrong body.'"
"This was disgusting. How could The Cabot not have vetted his act better," a Facebook user wrote on The Cabot's Facebook page. "Apparently (I found out too late), he has a reputation for spewing this kind of racist, homophobic, misogynistic bullcrap. ... We did NOT get what we paid for (which we all assumed would be a light, fun evening listening to stories and anecdotes about RD's time on the Vineyard making 'Jaws.') This was offensive and we demand a refund."
Attendee Diane Wolfe told the Boston Globe, "[Dreyfuss] said that the parents of trans youth, allowing them to transition, was bad parenting and that someday those kids might change their minds."
Commenters accused Dreyfuss of making similar comments at a Friday night Jaws screening at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. "I live in Mass, but the Cabot showing was all booked so I saw him in NH on May 24," a Facebook commenter wrote. "He made anti-gay remarks that night too."
In another video from the end of the Q&A, Dreyfuss received applause when speaking about his 2022 book, One Thought Scares Me...We Teach Our Children What We Wish Them to Know; We Don't Teach Our Children What We Don't Wish Them to Know.
"It's about the fact that 50 years ago, without telling anybody, they took civics out of the curriculum of all public schools in America, which means we have no knowledge of who the hell we are," Dreyfuss said of the work. "And if we don't get it back soon, we're all going to die. Make sure your kids are not the last generation of Americans. And you know exactly what I'm talking about."
Footage of Dreyfuss' alleged remarks has not surfaced online.
On Monday, The Cabot -- the venue that hosted Dreyfuss for The Jaws screening -- shared a statement with ET regarding the incident, apologizing for the event's unexpected turn from movie-going experience to becoming a "platform for political views.
"We are aware of, and share serious concerns, following the recent event with Richard Dreyfuss prior to a screening of the film Jaws at The Cabot. The views expressed by Mr. Dreyfuss do not reflect the values of inclusivity and respect that we uphold as an organization. We deeply regret the distress that this has caused to many of our patrons," a rep for the venue shared. "We regret that an event that was meant to be a conversation to celebrate an iconic movie instead became a platform for political views."
They added, "We take full responsibility for the oversight in not anticipating the direction of the conversation and for the discomfort it caused to many patrons. We are in active dialogue with our patrons about their experience and are committed to learning from this event how to better enact our mission of entertaining, educating, and inspiring our community. We kindly request respect for the privacy of our patrons and staff as we work through this matter."
Dreyfuss made comments similar to those allegedly made at The Cabot regarding the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' inclusion rules last year.
"They make me vomit. No one should be telling me as an artist that I have to give in to the latest, most current idea of what morality is. What are we risking? Are we really risking hurting people's feelings? You can't legislate that," Dreyfuss said while appearing on PBS' Firing Line With Margaret Hoover in May 2023.
"You have to let life be life and I'm sorry, I don't think there is a minority or majority in the country that has to be catered to like that. ... This is an art form. It's also a form of commerce and it makes money, but it's an art," he added. "And no one should be telling me as an artist that I have to give in to the latest, most current idea of what morality is."
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