Richard Dreyfuss reportedly made offensive comments at a weekend “Jaws” retrospective that prompted walkouts and an apology from the host theater.
“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 Beverly, Massachusetts, theater said in a statement obtained by multiple media outlets 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.”
It added: “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 walked out of his interview tonight along with hundred of others,” one person wrote on the theater’s Facebook page, describing Dreyfuss’ comments as racist, homophobic and misogynistic.
Among the controversial off-topic remarks reported by patrons on social media, the Oscar winner complimented Barbra Streisand for producing “Nuts,” a 1987 film he starred in, but allegedly said that women “are so passive that’s why the movie sucked.”
Another who said they were an attendee wrote on X that Dreyfuss recalled rejecting Streisand’s ideas because she’s a woman and women should not have “power.”
Amid booing, Dreyfuss said, “Oh so you’re going to turn into an angry mob now,” according to the user, paraphrasing his remarks.
He also allegedly said that those in the #MeToo moment “make me want to vomit” and that he didn’t want to listen to young children “saying that they were born in the wrong body.”
HuffPost has reached out to that X user for verification.
The “Mr. Holland’s Opus” star also took shots at the Oscars’ inclusivity rules, The Hollywood Reporter wrote.
One video of the event showed Dreyfuss appearing onstage in a dress and comically shaking his butt at the audience before donning a sports jacket. Another featured the star warning theatergoers: “Make sure your kids are not the last generation of Americans. And you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Jaws,” the 1975 thriller directed by Steven Spielberg, co-starred Dreyfuss as a marine biologist on a hunting expedition for a shark that has eaten and terrorized swimmers.
HuffPost has reached out to Dreyfuss for comment.
Richard Shotwell/Invision via Associated Press