Ben Dreyfuss insists that he did not slam his father's alleged 'sexist' and 'homophobic' remarks since he wasn't there at the event, stressing that 'people are allowed to have different opinions.'
- May 29, 2024
AceShowbiz - Richard Dreyfuss' alleged "offensive" rant at a recent "Jaws" screening has prompted a response from one of his children. Ben Dreyfuss has been forced to clarify after he joked about his father's reported "sexist" and "homophobic" remarks.
"Wow, just looked at my phone and learned about the disgusting outrageous behavior of one of my relatives," the 37-year-old joked on X, formerly known as Twitter, alongside a screenshot of a text message from his sister announcing she had purchased an Android phone.
"Re: my father: well, now you know why I refused to give him the password to his own twitter account for a decade lol," he wrote in a separate tweet. He then added, "This will be my only statement on the matter. thank you."
After he was called out for seemingly making light of his father's remarks, Ben debunked the allegation in another tweet. "This @DailyMail article mischaracterizes this thread. I am obviously not a left-wing activist and the 'joke' wasn't the part about his twitter account, it was the part about the disgusting outrageous behavior (of my sister adopting android)," he claimed.
Ben, however, insisted, "I did not call my dad's behavior 'disgusting' or 'outrageous' since I wasn't there and didn't see it!" The journalist went on defending his father, "My dad and I disagree about lots of stuff. But it's a free country. People are allowed to have different opinions about stuff."
Richard faced backlash following his appearance at the "Jaws" screening over the Memorial Day weekend on Saturday, May 25. In a video taken at the event, the veteran actor came out on stage wearing a dress over pants and a shirt before two people ripped the dress off.
Richard then said "that's the last time you'll see me in LGBT garb," according to one viewer. The 76-year-old reportedly went on a fiery rant that spanned topics including actress/singer Barbra Streisand, the #MeToo movement and transgender youth, prompting boos from the audience and leading to a walkout.
The Cabot Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts, where the screening was held, later issued an 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," said J. Casey Soward, the executive director of The Cabot, in a statement on Monday. "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 statement continued. "We take full responsibility for the oversight in not anticipating the direction of the conversation and for the discomfort it caused to many patrons."
J. Casey added, "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." The statement concluded, "We kindly request respect for the privacy of our patrons and staff as we work through this matter. Thank you for your understanding."
