Iconic actor Richard Dreyfuss quickly changed a “Jaws” screening on Saturday into an anti-trans statement.
Dreyfuss used his platform at the Cabot Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts, to launch into a rant condemning sex changes for children, immediately sparking backlash and widespread criticism, according to The Boston Globe.
The famous actor walked on stage wearing a dress on top of his clothes and carrying a cane as he performed an exaggerated dance to Taylor Swift’s “Love Story.” The unexpected scene became even more bizarre when he referenced transgenderism, saying that, “It’s not OK because when the kids’s 15, she’s going to say, ‘I’m an octopus,'” as he continued dancing around.
During the post-screening Q&A, Dreyfuss also disparaged women and the #MeToo movement, according to the Boston Globe.
Ticket holders paid over $300 to attend “An Evening With Richard Dreyfuss + Jaws Screening” and participated in a special meet-and-greet with the actor beforehand, the outlet noted.
PARSIPPANY, NJ – APRIL 28: Richard Dreyfuss attends Chiller Theatre Expo Spring 2023 at Parsippany Hilton on April 28, 2023 in Parsippany, New Jersey. (Photo by Bobby Bank/Getty Images)
Dreyfuss’ comments caused such an uproar that J. Casey Soward, the executive director of the Cabot, issued a formal apology to patrons for Dreyfuss’ on-stage outbursts, according to the Boston Globe.
“We regret that an event that was meant to be a conversation to celebrate an iconic movie instead became a platform for political views,” Soward said in a statement issued to IndieWire. “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.” (RELATED: Ben Affleck’s Daughter Seraphina Rose Appears To Reveal New Name At Grandad’s Funeral: REPORT)
Even the actor’s 37-year-old son, Ben Dreyfuss, weighed in with a Monday Twitter thread.
Re: my father: well, now you know why I refused to give him the password to his own twitter account for a decade lol
— Ben Dreyfuss (@bendreyfuss) May 28, 2024
He later clarified that he was not calling his father’s behavior “disgusting” or “outrageous,” but rather using those terms to jokingly describe his sister’s decision to purchase an Android phone. “The reason I wouldn’t let my dad have his own twitter acount for a decade was that he has lots of controversial opinions and, since he’s a movie star, sharing those opinions would not be helpful to his career,” Ben explained in a Tuesday blog post, in which he also expressed a degree of sympathy with his father’s views.
“I want trans people to enjoy the best medical science available and to live full and dignified lives. I also don’t want teens making permanent life-altering decisions they come to regret,” he wrote. “How to find the right line between these two goals is something I am perfectly happy, indeed eager, to leave up to people who know more about this than me or my father.
Dreyfuss has previously caught audiences off-guard with his stances on social issues, including his vocal support for blackface.
This story has been updated in light of Ben Dreyfuss’ blog post.
