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At a Massachusetts holiday weekend screening, he swung his cane like a baseball bat at one point after taking the stage in a house costume. jawsRichard Dreyfuss delivered a tirade described by participants as transphobic, sexist and homophobic.
“This is disgusting,” one attendee posted on the Facebook page of the Cabot Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts. “How could Cabot not have checked his act better. Apparently (I found out too late), he’s famous for spouting this kind of racist, homophobic, misogynistic bullshit.
The incident took place on Saturday night before the screening of the film. In a brief YouTube video taken by an audience member, Dreyfuss can be seen on stage for a Q&A wearing a floral print dress and teasingly swaying her hips.
At one point, he wields a cane like a baseball bat toward the crowd as he slowly walks to his seat with the aid of a cane.
Social media accounts of the event say the trouble started when Dreyfus started talking about her Nuts Director Barbra Streisand called her a “genius,” but the women, in a commentator’s account of the event, were “too passive, and that’s why the movie sucks.” From there, Dreyfuss made disparaging comments about the MeToo movement, then launched into “how you shouldn’t listen to a 10-year-old boy who wants to be a boy instead of a girl.”
“Jesus Christ what a blast,” the commentator continued. “The crowd booed him and most left before the film started. Talk about Cinema Asami.
In an apology statement sent by the Cabot to attendees, the venue wrote, “We are aware of and share serious concerns following the recent incident with Richard Dreyfuss prior to a screening of Jazz at The Cabot. Mr. The views expressed by Dreyfus do not reflect the values of inclusivity and respect that we espouse as an organization. We deeply regret the distress this has caused to many of our patrons.
“We regret that an event which was meant to be a conversation to celebrate an iconic film has turned into a platform for political views. We take full responsibility for the unintentional oversight in the direction of the conversation and the discomfort it caused to many patrons.
“We are actively engaging with our patrons about their experience, and we are committed to learning from this event how to better execute our mission of entertaining, educating and inspiring our community.”
One attendee responded on Facebook, “The Cabot’s apology to their patrons seems sincere, but no refunds. We didn’t get what we paid for (we all thought it would be a light, fun evening listening to stories and anecdotes about RD’s time in the vineyard making Jaws.) This is offensive and we demand a refund.
Deadline has reached out to a representative for The Cabot and Dreyfuss for additional comment.
Dreyfus made similar comments Friday night jaws Screening at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. “I live in Mass but the Cabot shows are all booked so I saw him in NH on May 24th,” wrote one Facebook commenter. He also made anti-gay comments that night.
Another Cabot audience member wrote, “richard dreyfuss is an embarrassment to society. his small minded bigoted view of women and choice left me out tonight.
Dreyfus Oscar was an outspoken critic of inclusive rules and empowering trans people to affirm their gender. Last year, PBS’ firing line, The Goodbye girl The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ diversity efforts “make me want to vomit,” the Oscar winner said.
“We are too weak to get our feelings hurt,” he said. “We don’t know how to stand up and punch a bully in the face.”
At the end of Dreyfuss’s Q&A at Cabot, caught on cell phone video, the actor plugs his 2022 book A thought terrifies me, “Fifty years ago they dropped civics from the curriculum in public schools in America without telling anyone. We don’t know who we are, and if we don’t reclaim that soon we’ll all die. We need to make sure your kids aren’t the last generation of Americans, and you know what I’m talking about.
