The theater expresses its “regret” over Richard Dreyfus’s statements at the “Jaws” event.

A Massachusetts movie theater expressed “regret” over actor Richard Dreyfuss’ comments during an early summer screening of “Jaws,” the venue announced Monday.

Dreyfuss appeared at a question-and-answer session at the Cabot Theater in Beverly on Saturday as part of a screening of the 1975 blockbuster directed by Steven Spielberg.

Witnesses on social media said he addressed topics from Barbra Streisand to transgender people to women, using words that Cabot CEO J. Casey Soward said in a statement Monday “do not reflect the values ​​of inclusivity and respect we stand by as an organization.”

A video verified by NBC News shows Dreyfus appearing on stage in a separate dress that stagehands removed to reveal him wearing pants, a shirt, a jacket and using a cane.

The Dreyfus Initiative, an Encinitas, California, nonprofit dedicated to promoting civics education in the United States, did not immediately respond to emails and a phone call seeking comment on Monday, a holiday.

The sold-out event was billed as “An Evening with the Richard Dreyfus Show + Jaws”. The theater is located about 23 miles north of Boston. “Jaws” is set in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, about 120 miles south of Beverly.

Members of the public interviewed by Boston Globe They said they paid $300 each for tickets that included a meet-and-greet with Dreyfus, but were dismayed when they said he disparaged women in films, the MeToo movement and LGBTQ rights. Sarah Hogg told the newspaper that statements about transgender children prompted them to go out with their partner.

Soward said in a Cabot Theater statement that the venue shares “serious concerns…in the wake of the recent event with Richard Dreyfuss.”

He continued: “We deeply regret the distress this has caused to many of our patrons. We regret that an event that was supposed to be a conversation celebrating an iconic film has instead become a platform for political views.”

Dreyfus (76 years old) has been a source of controversial statements in recent years, most notably his response to the Academy Awards announcement last year that female entries to the Oscars must meet certain standards for diversity and inclusion.

“No one should tell me as an artist that I have to give in to the latest, newest idea of ​​what morality is,” he said in an interview on PBS’s “Firing Line With Margaret Hoover.”

The alleged comments on Saturday sparked criticism and support. One audience member said she was repeating a comment on Facebook, Distinction of the event As “An Evening of Misogyny and Homophobia with Richard Dreyfus”.

Born in New York City, raised in Beverly Hills, Calif., and based in San Diego County, Dreyfuss scored a cameo role in the 1973 film “American Graffiti.” But it was his portrayal of a marine biologist in the recent summer blockbuster “Jaws” that established him as one of Hollywood’s top actors. .

Dreyfus has used some of his on-screen credit to denounce the state of education and politics in the United States and to speak out “in favor of privacy, free speech, democracy, and individual accountability,” according to his initiative’s website.