Outspoken actor Richard Dreyfuss has not publicly commented on his remarks at a screening event that caused offended audience members to walk out, but images and comments online show he initially arrived on stage in a dress.
The 78-year-old Oscar winner set off a firestorm after he delivered what some called a speech filled with “Misogyny and Homophobia” as he criticized the parents of transgender children, took a shot at the Academy Awards inclusion rules, and even Barbra Streisand, who co-starred in the 1987 movie “Nuts.”
“Dreyfuss walked onto the stage in the floral print blue dress and shook his hips to Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story” while wielding his cane like a baseball bat, attendees claimed,” Daily Mail reported on the event at The Cabot in Beverly, Massachusetts over the weekend.
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(Image: Screenshot/YouTube)
Dreyfuss was in attendance for a question and answer session followed by a screening of his 1975 blockbuster “Jaws” but surprised many with his comments, sending leftists into a meltdown on social media.
Many comments suggested the dress was a stunt before he remarked on parents as he later was seen in just his suit.
“He said that the parents of trans youth, allowing them to transition, was bad parenting and that someday those kids might change their minds,” one attendee named Diane Wolf said, according to Daily Mail.
Another suggested “An Evening of Misogyny and Homophobia With Richard Dreyfuss. Disappointing doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
While Dreyfuss has not yet responded to the viral comments, the theater did issue an apology and his son reacted on social media.
“Re: my father: well, now you know why I refused to give him the password to his own twitter account for a decade lol,” journalist Ben Dreyfuss posted on X.
This will be my only statement on the matter. thank you.
— Ben Dreyfuss (@bendreyfuss) May 28, 2024
“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 in another video at the end of the Q&A session as he spoke about his 2022 book, “One Thought Scares Me.”
“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,” the actor said.
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(Image: Screenshot/YouTube)
The Cabot apologized in a statement on Monday.
“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 read, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“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.”