A US cinema has apologized after actor Richard Dreyfuss was accused of making offensive comments during a question and answer session before a screening of Jaws, the film that made him a big star.
Dreyfuss performed Saturday at the Cabot Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts.
Casey Soward, the theater’s executive director, said in a statement that Dreyfuss’ comments – which reportedly included comments about Barbra Streisand, the transgender community and women in film – used words that “do not reflect the values of inclusion and respect that we uphold.” as a society.” organization”.
He added: “We are deeply sorry for the distress this has caused many of our patrons. We are sorry that an event that was intended to be a conversation celebrating an iconic film has become a platform for political opinions.”
The venue, he said, shares the “serious concerns” of attendees following the event.
Lisa Howe said on the theatre’s Facebook page: “We walked away from his interview tonight along with hundreds of others because of his racist, homophobic and misogynistic rant.”
Another quoted by NBC News, Sky’s American partner, summarized the event as “an evening of misogyny and homophobia with Richard Dreyfuss.”
But others argued that there was “nothing wrong with what he said”, with one viewer declaring that he had a “new respect” for the actor.
A video posted on YouTube showed Dreyfuss appearing on stage in a breakaway dress that stagehands removed to reveal him wearing pants, a dress shirt and a jacket and using a cane.
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Reuters file photo
Richard Dreyfuss. AP file photo
Last year, Dreyfuss, who won the best actor Oscar for 1977’s The Goodbye Girl, criticized the Academy’s announcement that nominees will have to meet certain diversity and inclusion standards.
The 76-year-old said: “No one should tell me as an artist that I have to give in to the latest, most current idea of what morality is.”
Dreyfuss first became famous in the 1973 film American Graffiti, but his portrayal of a marine biologist in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster Jaws made him a Hollywood star.
Sky News has asked the actor’s non-profit campaign organisation, The Dreyfuss Initiative, for comment.
Dreyfuss has used some of his screen credit to denounce the state of education and politics in the United States and speak out “in favor of privacy, freedom of expression, democracy and individual responsibility,” according to the site website of your initiative.
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