Richard Dreyfuss received heavy criticism for his comments on the screening of the movie Jaws

Richard Dreyfus

Greg DeGuire/Stringer

A Massachusetts theater apologizes to its fans who came out to see the show Jaws with star Richard Dreyfuss but instead were subjected to alleged sexist and homophobic comments from the actor over Memorial Day weekend.

Attendees who headed to the Cabot Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts on Saturday for what was billed as “An Evening with Richard Dreyfuss + a screening of Jaws” were likely expecting some entertaining or insightful anecdote from the actor about filming Steven Spielberg’s action classic.

Instead, the Oscar winner went on a freestyle rant that, according to social media posts from attendees, began while he was talking about Barbra Streisand and moved on to his bigoted viewpoint on trans youth, the Oscars’ inclusivity rules and then moved on to trans kids affirming their gender.

After the event, attendees quickly took to social media to criticize the actor’s statements, with some saying they walked out during the event.

An attendee and X.com user named Rogue Mama wrote, “I came here to see if Richard Dreyfuss got canceled tonight after his appearance at #TheCabot in Beverly.” Another suggested an alternative title for tonight’s event: “An Evening of Misogyny and Homophobia with Richard Dreyfus.” Disappointing doesn’t even begin to cover it.

“We walked out of his interview tonight along with hundreds of others because of his racist, homophobic rant,” one person wrote in the comments section of the latest Facebook post. Another person called Dreyfus’s comments “disgusting” and “offensive.”

On Monday, the venue apologized to attendees for Dreyfus’ remarks, he wrote in a statement obtained by Dreyfus’ website Hollywood Reporter“We recognize and share serious concerns, following the recent incident with Richard Dreyfuss prior to the film’s release Jaws In Cabot. The views expressed by Mr. Dreyfus do not reflect the values ​​of inclusivity and respect we uphold as an organization. We deeply regret the distress this has caused to many of our patrons.”

We regret that an event that was supposed to be a conversation celebrating an iconic film has instead become a platform for political views. We take full responsibility for the oversight in unpredicting the direction of the conversation and the inconvenience it caused to many patrons.

We are in active dialogue with our patrons about their experience and are committed to learning from this event about how we can better operationalize our mission to entertain, educate and inspire our community.

On Friday, Dreyfus appeared at an event similar to The Cabot Q&A+ show at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Attendees also criticized him for his behavior and language there, which were described as sexist and vile.

In May 2023, during an appearance on PBS, Dreyfus made comments similar to those made in The Cabot regarding the Film Academy’s inclusion rules.

“They make me throw up,” he said. Firing line. “No one should tell me as an artist that I have to give in to the latest and greatest idea of ​​what morality is. What are we risking? Are we really risking hurting people’s feelings? You can’t legislate that. You have to let life be life and I’m sorry, I don’t think there’s a minority Or a majority in the country should be taken care of in this way. … This is a form of art and it is a form of commerce and it makes money, but it is an art and no one should tell me as an artist that I should give in to the latest and greatest idea of ​​what morality is.

THR I have reached out to a Dreyfuss representative for comment and to The Cabot staff for further comment.