Jaws event leads to audience walkout after star accused of “bigoted rant”

Jaws actor Richard Dreyfuss has been accused of going on a “bigoted rant” at an event for the classic movie, causing an alleged audience walkout. 

Over the weekend, The Cabot Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts, hosted a screening of Steven Spielberg’s famed shark film, followed by a Q&A with the actor.

Footage has emerged from the event showing Dreyfuss taking to the stage wearing a dress over his clothing and playfully dancing to Taylor Swift’s ‘Love Story’. 

However, attendants claim that the event – ‘An Evening With Richard Dreyfuss + Jaws Screening’ – descended when the actor launched into a “bigoted rant” about the #MeToo movement and LGBTQ+ rights. 

One described Dreyfuss as an “embarrassment to society,” adding on Facebook that they walked out “because of his small-minded bigoted view of women and choice.” 

Another said, “We walked out of his interview tonight along with a hundred others because of his racist, homophobic, misogynistic rant.”

The Boston Globe spoke with a number of guests about what happened, including Sarah Hogg, who went with their partner, Jonah Hoffmann.

“We were thrilled to see Richard Dreyfuss speak about his experience filming Jaws, what it was like, his time in Hollywood,” they told the outlet. “That is not at all the experience that we got.”

Hogg went on to claim the actor called women “submissive and weak,” which initially they thought was meant to be ironic. 

“Then it just got so quickly off the rails,” they continued, describing how he then lambasted the #MeToo and LGBTQ+ movements. 

Adding to this, audience member Diane Wolf told the publication: “He said that the parents of trans youth, allowing them to transition, was bad parenting and that someday those kids might change their minds.”

According to a video seen by The Boston Globe, the crowd was shouting at Dreyfuss after he said, “It’s not okay because when the kid’s 15, she’s going to say, ‘I’m an octopus.’”

The Cabot’s executive director J. Casey Soward has since stated that an estimated 125 people left after the actor’s rant. 

The venue also shared an apology and said his views don’t reflect their own. “We are aware of, and share serious concerns, following the recent event with Richard Dreyfuss prior to a screening of the film Jaws at The Cabot,” the statement reads.

“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.”

Although Dreyfuss is yet to publicly comment on the situation, his son, Ben Dreyfuss, has spoken out after reports mistakenly suggested he’d distanced himself from his father. 

“I don’t want to completely lose my sense of humor about all of these idiot papers lying about my reaction to my dad’s dumb controversy, but I really just think it’s incredibly irresponsible and unkind to tell a father his son publicly turned on him in a moment of crisis,” he wrote. 

“The only thing that my dad could do at some dumbass Jaws event that would make me turn on him is a mass shooting.”