Actor Richard Dreyfuss suffered intense backlash over the weekend after he wore a dress and launched into what was described as a “sexist” and “homophobic” rant during a screening of Jaws, RadarOnline.com can report.
The surprising incident unfolded on Saturday night at The Cabot in Beverly, Massachusetts during an event billed as An Evening with Richard Dreyfuss + Jaws Screening.
According to those in attendance, the 78-year-old actor marched onto The Cabot stage dressed in a floral print blue dress and shook his hips to Taylor Swift's Love Story. Dreyfuss also reportedly wielded his cane like a baseball bat.
Dreyfuss then changed out of the dress and allegedly disparaged the parents of transgender children.
“He said that the parents of trans youth, allowing them to transition, was bad parenting and that someday those kids might change their minds,” one person in attendance at The Cabot on Saturday night recounted, according to Daily Mail.
Several clips of the actor’s rant were shared online over the weekend – including one where Dreyfuss appeared to dismiss children who identified as transgender.
“It's not okay because when the kid's 15, she's going to say: I'm an octopus,” the Jaws star charged.
Also surprising were reports that Dreyfuss disparaged Barbra Streisand during remarks about the pair’s 1987 film Nuts.
The Cabot ultimately issued an apology email on Monday in the wake of the backlash against Dreyfuss. The venue acknowledged the “serious concerns” that the actor’s controversial appearance and subsequent rant created.
“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 venue said.
“The views expressed by Mr. Dreyfuss do not reflect the values of inclusivity and respect that we uphold as an organization,” the venue continued. “We deeply regret the distress that this has caused to many of our 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.”
Meanwhile, several of those in attendance took to social media to slam Dreyfuss over Saturday night’s “sexist” and “homophobic” charade. One attendee even claimed that “hundreds” of people walked out of the event.
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“We walked out of his interview tonight along with hundreds of others because of his racist homophobic misogynistic rant,” one person tweeted.
"Came here to see if Richard Dreyfuss had been canceled tonight after appearing at The Cabot in Beverly,” wrote another person who attended the night’s event.
“An Evening of Misogyny and Homophobia with Richard Dreyfuss,” wrote a third attendee. “Disappointing doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
Dreyfuss has yet to make a public comment about his controversial appearance at The Cabot on Saturday night.