Richard Dreyfuss slammed for alleged homophobic and sexist comments at Jaws screening

Richard Dreyfuss has been slammed for allegedly making homophobic and sexist comments at a Jaws screening at The Cabot, Massachusetts.

On 25 May, The Cabot Theatre in Beverly hosted a screening of the 1975 film, as well as a question and answer session with Dreyfuss, who was featured in the movie.

However, attendees alleged on social media that the Oscar award-winner shared “bigoted” thoughts on women and trans youth at the venue, causing many theatre-goers to leave before the movie even began. 

As per one Cabot attendee, Dreyfuss dubbed Barbra Streisand a “genius” but said he “didn’t listen to her because she is a woman and women shouldn’t have that power”. The same attendee also alleged Dreyfuss said: “You shouldn’t be listening to some 10-year-old who says they want to be a boy instead of a girl.”

Other Cabot attendees took to the theatre’s Facebook page to explain their reason for the walkout. “We walked out of his interview tonight along with hundred[s] of others because of his racist homophobic misogynistic rant,” one social media user alleged, while another added: “Richard Dreyfuss is an embarrassment to society. I walked out tonight because of his small-minded bigoted view of women and choice.”

PinkNews has contacted a representative of Richard Dreyfuss for a comment on the matter.

The Cabot Theatre said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter: “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.

“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.”

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