actor Richard Dreyfuss Dreyfuss is facing criticism for making comments that audience members found sexist, homophobic and generally offensive during a question-and-answer event related to the movie “Jaws,” which screened at a Massachusetts theater over the weekend. Dreyfuss starred in the 1975 blockbuster movie, which was filmed in Massachusetts and screened Saturday night at The Cabot, a performing arts center in the coastal town of Beverly.
Dreyfuss attended a Jaws-themed event wearing a dress and made a series of derogatory remarks about women, LGBTQ+ people, and diversity, after which the venue issued an apology after the film screening and event, billed as “An Evening with Richard Dreyfuss.”
The 76-year-old actor, who played a marine biologist in “Jaws,” appeared on stage in a blue floral dress before being removed by stagehands and replaced with a sports jacket. A video of his entrance posted to YouTube shows Dreyfuss doing an impromptu dance move in the dress to the sound of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.”
“Dreyfuss has previously called the Academy’s diversity efforts “sickening.”
“Tonight we have about 100 people. [sic] “He is being called out by others for his racist, homophobic and misogynistic rants,” one user commented on Cabot’s Facebook page.
Dreyfuss drew applause after he ended the discussion by stating his opinion that civics is no longer taught in classrooms and that it’s damaging to the country, referencing his book “One Thought Scares Me…” A lack of fundamentals in civics means “we have no idea who the hell we are,” he can be heard saying in another video shared online from that portion of the Q&A.
“And if we don’t get it back soon, we’re all going to die,” Dreyfuss continued. “Make sure your kids aren’t the last generation of Americans. You know exactly what I mean.”
The Cabot Theatre apologized in an email and said it does not endorse the views of Dreyfuss, who also appeared in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “American Graffiti” and “The Goodbye Girl,” for which he won an Oscar. The theatre’s executive director did not immediately respond to an email message Tuesday, and a representative for Dreyfuss could not be reached.
“We deeply regret that Mr. Dreyfus’ comments during the event did not align with Cabot’s values of inclusivity and respect. We understand his remarks were hurtful and upsetting to many community members, and for that we sincerely apologize,” Cabot’s statement said.
The venue released a further statement on social media on Tuesday.
“We are aware of and share serious concerns about the recent event featuring Richard Dreyfuss prior to a screening of Jaws at the Cabot Theatre,” the statement read. “We regret that what was meant to be a forum for conversation celebrating an iconic film became a platform for expressing political views. We take full responsibility for our failure to anticipate the direction the conversation took and for the offense caused to many in the audience.”
Cabot said it is “actively engaging in dialogue” to hear patrons’ experiences and is “committed to learning from this event to better execute on our mission of entertaining, educating and inspiring our community.”
Dreyfuss faced criticism last year for comments he made during an interview with PBS’ “Firing Line with Margaret Hoover” about the Academy Awards’ new inclusion initiative. The Academy said the initiative, first announced in 2020 and implemented at this year’s Oscars, was developing eligibility criteria for Best Picture nominees “to encourage more equitable representation on and off screen.”
“It makes me sick,” Dreyfuss said when asked how he felt about the qualifications requirements. “It’s an art form. It’s also a commercial form, a way to make money. But it’s art. No one should be telling me, as an artist, that I have to bow to the latest morality. What are we risking? Are we really risking hurting people’s feelings? You can’t legislate that.”
