The big question on X now is what exactly did actor Richard Dreyfuss say that’s caused a hullabaloo at a screening of Jaws?
Dreyfuss hasn’t been shy in the past about making comments about some “woke” topics, and he’s definitely set off some people on the left when he criticized the new Academy Award “inclusivity” rules.
Now the Cabot Theater has “apologized” in an email to people who supposedly were ticked off about what he said.
I need to know what Richard Dreyfuss said at a jaws screening last night that inspired this email pic.twitter.com/qkIgrwbtqK
— montefisto.bsky.social (@montefisto13) May 26, 2024
“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.
“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.”
So what did he say?
The stories have no quotes and there’s no transcript or video of the controversial part of what he supposedly says so far.
What they’re reporting is general statements about what people on Facebook said he said. And some of that is hearsay, from people who said they were told what he said. The NY Post describes it as “talking about Barbra Streisand to his opinions on transgender youth and gender affirmation, as well as the Academy Awards’ inclusivity rules.” Supposedly some of the people walked out and complained.
There is only video of him coming into the talk with a dress over his clothes, which he then takes off. The context for the wearing of the dress is not clear. Then there’s a video at the end where he talks about his book that’s about the importance of teaching civics to kids to help preserve the America we know. He’s only in the first 2:35 minutes of this clip. Just a note, he has Parkinson’s.
“And it’s about how 50 years ago, without telling anyone, they took civics out of the curriculum. Which means we have no knowledge of who the hell we are,” he said. “And if we don’t get it back soon, we’re all going to die. Make sure your kids are not the last generation of Americans. And you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
If you listen to the cheers in this video,