Richard Dreyfuss' son DEFENDS his father's controversial comments at Jaws screening: 'He's entitled to his own opinion!'

• e-mail

Richard Dreyfuss's son Ben has defended his father after an unhinged rant at a $300-a-head screening of his legendary movie Jaws.

The 76-year-old actor showed up at a Jaws-themed event in Beverly, Massachusetts, where the blockbuster 1975 movie he starred in was shot, and proceeded to make demeaning remarks about women, LGBTQ+ people and diversity.

'My dad and I disagree about lots of stuff. But it’s a free country. People are allowed to have different opinions about stuff,' journalist Ben Dreyfuss, 37, wrote on X on Tuesday. 

Dreyfuss, who played a marine biologist in the movie, walked onstage wearing a blue, floral-patterned dress that stage workers helped him remove before he put on a sport coat.

During what was supposed to be a lighthearted question-and-answer session, some people in the audience walked out over his remarks about women in film and the #MeToo movement, transgender youths and LGBTQ+ rights, and the Academy Awards’ efforts to foster inclusivity. 

Richard Dreyfuss, who played a marine biologist in the movie Jaws, walked onstage wearing a blue, floral-patterned dress

His son Ben son Ben defended him after a his rant at a $300-a-head screening of his legendary movie Jaws

His son Ben, one of the co-founders of progressive magazine Mother Jones, had previously laughed off the controversy.

'Wow, just looked at my phone and learned about the disgusting outrageous behavior of one of my relatives,' he said on X, adding a screenshot of a relative telling him they had an Android instead of an iPhone.

He followed up: 'Re: My father, well, now you know why I refused to give him the password to his own Twitter account for a decade lol.'

Ben went even further to clarify his comments on his father's statements, saying the tabloids had lied about how he really felt. 

He wrote: 'I really can’t say if I agree with him or not. I’m very supportive of trans people getting whatever medical procedures they decide to get in consultation with their doctors past a certain age. 

'But I don’t really know what that age should be. I don’t have a young child and I’m not an expert. These two truths about me are also truths about my dad. His opinion about pre-adolescent gender reassignment therapy, like my opinion, means nothing. It has no consequence.

Dreyfuss was appearing at The Cabot in Beverly, Massachusetts, for a question and answer session followed by a screening of Jaws, the mega hit which launched his career in 1975

'I want trans people to enjoy the best medical science available and to live full and dignified lives. I also don’t want teens making permanent life-altering decisions they come to regret. How to find the right line between these two goals is something I am perfectly happy, indeed eager, to leave up to people who know more about this than me or my father.

'Whether my dad shares my exact opinion about these issues is meaningless to me. Lots of people disagree with me about stuff. This is America. Everyone is allowed to disagree about everything.'

Ben added: 'My dad is not a perfect guy. I know that better than anyone reading this. But I love him profoundly. Do not ask me to denounce him. I will not do it. I especially will not do it over thought crimes!'

An attendee at the question and answer session in Massachusetts over Memorial Day weekend told DailyMail.Com the Oscar-winner 'kept going' with homophobic and racist comments during his appearance.

'He started the night coming out with a dress on dancing to Taylor Swift saying that this was LGBTQ moment. I assumed he was horsing around, later a staff member told me he was walking around town for a couple of hours picking one out,' Kerry said.

Kerry said that the show then got back on the rails with Dreyfuss discussing his role in another Steven Spielberg classic, 1978's Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

From there, however, Kerry said Dreyfuss went off, targeting his Nuts co-star Barbra Streisand. 'He began to say a lot of sexist things about her, about all women. Their stupid, they shouldn't have any power etc,' she continued.

Other accounts say that Dreyfuss accused women of being 'passive' which is why the 1987 film Nuts 'sucked.'

Another member of the crowd said Dreyfuss said that society, 'Shouldn't be listening to some 10-year-old who says they want to be a boy instead of a girl.'

Kerry said that the atmosphere in the theater quickly soured with many booing the star and some walking out. 'Now, now, don't turn into an angry mob,' Dreyfuss told the crowd, according to Kerry.

Despite the walkouts, Dreyfuss received applause when he ended the discussion by referencing his book, 'One Thought Scares Me...' and his opinion that civics is no longer being taught in classrooms, to the country’s detriment. 

Dreyfuss pictured alongside his now-deceased Jaws co-stars Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw

According to some audience members, Dreyfuss made disparaging remarks about Barbra Streisand, his co-star in the 1987 movie Nuts

The Cabot Cinema's management issued a full apology to customers who attended Dreyfuss's appearance

The lack of a foundation in civics means 'we have no knowledge of who the hell we are,' he said.

'If we don’t get it back soon, we’re all going to die.'

The Cabot sent an email apology in which it said it didn’t endorse the opinions of the actor, who also starred in Close Encounters of The Third Kind, American Graffiti and The Goodbye Girl, a performance for which he received an Oscar. 

The venue’s executive director didn’t respond immediately to emails Tuesday, and a representative for Dreyfuss could not be reached.

'We deeply regret that Mr. Dreyfuss’s comments during the event were not in line with the values of inclusivity and respect that we uphold at The Cabot. We understand that his remarks were distressing and offensive to many of our community members, and for that, we sincerely apologize,' The Cabot’s statement said.

Ben Dreyfuss has previously also found himself in scandal, including last year after he claimed he would never have sex 'with a fat person' or let a partner put-on weight.