Crowd Protests Richard Dreyfuss at ‘Jaws’ Screening in Beverly, Massachusetts

Even before Jaws was shown, people got up and left the screening.

You can thank Richard Dreyfuss for upsetting the crowd at a screening of Jaws at The Cabot Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts. According to Deadline, Richard showed up in a dress over his clothes, sashaying to a Taylor Swift song. He then went on a rant that people say was transphobic, sexist, and homophobic.

This video shows how he entered the stage, but does not include the tirade.

Deadline quotes social media posts:

This was disgusting.

 

How could the Cabot not have vetted his act better. Apparently (I found out too late), he has a reputation for spewing this kind of racist, homophobic, misogynistic bullcrap.

Seems the trouble started when Richard Dreyfuss started talking about the movie Nuts, which was produced by Barbra Streisand. According to Deadline, he called her a "genius" but said that women "...are so passive. That's why the movie sucked."

It only got worse from there. He went on to slam the #MeToo Movement, then talked about how you shouldn’t listen to a 10-year-old who says they want to be a boy instead of a girl.

The crowd was having none of it. Reports say that they were shouting at him to talk about the movie, and most walked out before the movie even started. The Cabot Theater released an apology on its Facebook page that says, in part,

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 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.

There was a screening before the Cabot one at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was apparently slinging anti-gay remarks there, also.

It's unfortunate that an iconic film set in New England couldn't be celebrated without controversy.