Theater Issues Apology Over Richard Dreyfuss’ Reportedly “Distressing And Offensive” Comments About Transgenders, LGBTQ Community, #MeToo, And Barbara Streisand At ‘Jaws’ Screening
Richard Dreyfuss has sparked the ire of transgender ideology activists, reportedly making comments about transgender children, the #MeToo movement, the LGBTQ community, and Barbara Streisand, prompting the venue to issue a formal apology for the “distress” caused by the actor’s remarks.
Per the Daily Mail, the actor reportedly made these comments during a Q and A session at The Cabot theater following a special Jaws screening. Unfortunately, what the actor specifically said is still unclear since the event was not broadcast; most information comes from members of the audience who claimed Dreyfuss made “sexist, homophobic” comments.
“He started the night coming out with a dress on dancing to Taylor Swift saying that this was LGBTQ moment,” a member of the audience told the outlet. “I assumed he was horsing around, later a staff member told me he was walking around town for a couple of hours picking one out.'”
This member of the audience, which identified herself as Kerry, brought up that the actor would go on to talk about Streisand, who co-starred alongside Dreyfuss in the 1987 drama film Nuts, declaring, “He began to say a lot of sexist things about her, about all women. Their stupid, they shouldn’t have any power etc.”
According to another source, Daily Mail reports, the Jaws star said Nuts “sucked” because women are “passive,” before he talked about the #MeToo movement.
“Then he just kept going with homophobic and racist comments… He insulted the Me Too movement etc,” yet another alleged unnamed member of the audience claimed the actor said, adding that Dreyfuss said society “shouldn’t be listening to some 10-year-old who says they want to be a boy instead of a girl.”
Kerry also noted that the crowd immediately took offence at Dreyfuss remarks, to which the actor purportedly replied saying, “Now, now, don’t turn into an angry mob.”
The member of the audience also alleged that The Cabot staff had been warned about Dreyfuss since he had reportedly behaved in similar manner at an event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire the night before, later theorizing that the actor may have been trying to prove a point for his book.
“I felt he was conducting a warped social experiment to prove some points in his book. That we can’t disagree on things civilly etc. that’s my opinion,” Kerry recalled.
Deadline reports that another member of the audience took to social media to vent frustrations, writing, “Jesus Christ what an explosion,” adding, “Crowd was shouting at him and most walked out before the movie even started. Talk about the movie a—hole.”
“Richard dreyfuss is an embarrassment to society. I walked out tonight because of his small minded bigoted view of women and choice,” wrote another frustrated member of the audience.
Before he walked off stage, Dreyfuss took some time to promote his book One Thought Scares Me, declaring, “Fifty 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 and if we don’t get it back soon we’re all gonna die.”
“We have to make sure that your kids are not the last generation of Americans, and you know exactly what I’m talking about,” he concluded as the audience that did not walk out cheered and applauded him.
In a move that has come to be fairly expected in recent years, The Cabot issued a formal apology, stating, “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,” the statement continued.
They further declared, “We regret that an event that was meant to be a conversation to celebrate an iconic movie instead became a platform for political views. 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,” it concluded.
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