Richard Dreyfuss: The Cabot Theatre apologises over Jaws actor's 'racist and homophobic rant'

Richard Dreyfuss, the Oscar award-winning actor who is best known for his role in Jaws has been accused of making offensive remarks at the Cabot Theatre in Massachusetts on Saturday (May 25). The theatre has since issued an apology after Dreyfuss allegedly went on a “racist and homophobic rant”, during a question-and-answer session before a screening of Jaws.

Cabot Theatres executive director Casey Soward, said in a statement that Dreyfuss's remarks "do not reflect the values of inclusivity and respect that we uphold as an organisation". He added: "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."

What did Richard Dreyfuss say?

The Oscar award-winning Jaws actor has been accused of allegedly making remarks about Barbra Streisand, the transgender community and women in film, during a question-and-answer session at the Cabot Theatre. A video posted by one of the attendees on YouTube shows Dreyfuss appearing onstage in a dress, before it was removed by stagehands to reveal his clothes underneath.

In a post on the Cabot Theatre’s Facebook Page Lisa Howe said: "We walked out of his interview tonight along with hundreds of others because of his racist homophobic misogynistic rant."

Whilst another attendee described the event to NBC News as "an evening of misogyny and homophobia with Richard Dreyfuss".

However, others have argued that "there was nothing wrong with what the actor said" - with one stating they had "newfound respect" for the Jaws star.

Sarah McCann is a Trends Writer for NationalWorld who specialises in stories around TV, Film and Health. If you liked this article you can follow Sarah on X (Twitter) here. You can also sign up to her free weekly column in the NationalWorld newsletter bringing you the latest tv and film news every Thursday.