Over Memorial Day weekend, the Cabot Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts held a special screening of the 1975 classic “Jaws.” What made the screening so special was Richard Dreyfuss, who played Hooper in the film, would be doing a Q&A. Things didn’t go as planned, as the highly decorated actor said some things during the appearance that prompted several people to walk out, and the Cabot Theater to issue an apology.
According to members of the audience, the “Mr. Holland’s Opus” star went on a “transphobic, homophobic [and] misogynistic” rant. He badly touched on the #MeToo movement, “Nuts” co-star Barbara Streisand (who he said “is a genius but he didn’t listen to her because she is a woman and women shouldn’t have that power”), and more.
The Apology
“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 theater said in a statement. “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,” the Cabot added. “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.”
What Was Allegedly Said
While this apology is intentionally vague, a video allegedly shot during the screening may give insight into what happened. In the footage, Dreyfuss walks in wearing a dress over his clothes. After some preening, he is disrobed by two assistants and dawns a white sports coat. All while Taylor Swift‘s “Love Story” plays, the crowd laughs, claps, and whistles at his antics. However, this video cuts out before the actor really says anything.
In a post about the apology on the theater’s Facebook page, several commenters claim to have been at the showing. Most of them claim he made remarks that were sexist, homophobic, and transphobic. Many of these comments referred to remarks about women needing to be submissive and that men can’t have babies. The latter remark is often used as a way to dismiss the trans community and the fact that genitals do not define gender. “Men in dresses” is also a common, nonsensical, insult towards trans women.
A post on X (formally Twitter) by user kell-i backs up some of these allegations:
We may never know what was said in the theater that day. For now, we do know his comments had little to nothing to do with “Jaws” and everything to do with Dreyfuss’ personal views. Which he has the right to express on any platform he wishes. However, this right does not protect him from others’ reactions or any damage it may cause to his career.
You can check out the video of Dreyfuss’ entrance below:
