There were walkouts during a showing of Jaws and a question and answer session with the film’s star, Richard Dreyfuss, in Massachusetts. The incidents occurred after the 76-year-old actor was accused of making statements that were sexist and transphobic.
The event was described as “An Evening with Richard Dreyfuss + Jaws Screening,” and it took place on Saturday, May 25 at The Cabot theater in Beverly, Massachusetts. Dreyfuss gave a speech at the event. According to The Hollywood Reporter, attendees were expecting to be privy to behind-the-scenes secrets from the film, but instead, they were supposedly given to the actor’s comments on trans youngsters and the inclusion standards of the Academy Awards.
Dreyfuss attended the event wearing a dress at first, to the tune of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” playing in the background. Although there is no transcript of the event that has been made public, postings on social media imply that his claimed statements started when he was discussing about Barbra Streisand and escalated from there.
On the Facebook page of The Cabot, a person left a remark stating that they were among the individuals who left the screening. The comment said, “We walked out of his interview tonight along with hundred [sic] of others because of his racist homophobic misogynistic rant.”
A number of individuals have attempted to get in touch with representatives for Dreyfuss, but they have not received a response right away.
On Monday, May 27, the venue published a statement expressing regret to those who had attended the event.
After the recent incident that occurred with Richard Dreyfuss, which took place before a showing of the film Jaws at The Cabot, the statement started by saying, “We are aware of, and share serious concerns regarding the situation.” “The opinions that Mr. Dreyfuss has espoused do not represent the ideals of respect and inclusion that we as an institution strive to promote. Many of our customers have been made to feel distressed as a result of this, and we profoundly regret this.
“We regret that an event that was meant to be a conversation to celebrate an iconic movie instead became a platform for political views,” according to the statement. “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,” the statement said. “We are committed to learning how to better put our mission into action.”
Backlash has been provoked by Dreyfuss’s statements on many occasions, including this one. During his appearance on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) series Firing Line with Margaret Hoover in 2023, he criticized the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its commitment to diversity and inclusion at the Oscars.
During that particular period, the actor who played Mr. Holland’s Opus said, “They make me vomit.” For the reason that this is a type of art. Moreover, it is a type of business, and it results in financial gain. It is, nonetheless, an art. It is not appropriate for someone to tell me, as an artist, that I am required to conform to the most recent and contemporary conception of what constitutes morality.
To continue, he referred to the criteria as “patronizing” and lauded Laurence Olivier’s performance as Othello in 1965, stating, “He played a Black man brilliantly.”
“What are we risking?” To continue, Dreyfuss said. “Do we really want to take the chance of hurting people’s feelings? This is something that cannot be legislated, and you must learn to let life be life. For the record, I am sad to say that I do not believe that there is a minority or a majority in the nation that needs to be accommodated in such a manner.
