Fact Check: Is Richard Dreyfuss related to Julia Louis-Dreyfus? Rumor debunked as actor sparks outrage at Jaws screening

Actor Richard Dreyfuss is in the news again after reportedly making some questionable comments at a recent Jaws screening. As people became curious about the actor and his background, rumors that he is actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus's father resurfaced.

In 2016, Julia Louis-Dreyfus announced her father's demise during her Emmy Awards acceptance speech, which made fans wonder if her father was Richard Dreyfuss. However, it is to be noted that Richard Dreyfuss is not Julia's father. Julia's father, Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, died in September 2016 at the age of 84.

Richard, on the other hand, is now 76 years old. His recent comments attracted major backlash, considering they were apparently "transphobic and sexist in nature."

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Tin Men actor Richard Dreyfuss is not Julia Louis-Dreyfus' father; rumors of them being related resurface

Richard Dreyfuss, who has been making headlines recently for his allegedly questionable comments at the Jaws screening, has led fans to become curious about his background. This led to a rumor that he was related to Julia Louis-Dreyfus. However, the speculations and rumors are not true since Julia's father passed away a few years back.

Even in 2016, the same rumor began when Julia shared about her late father in her Emmy acceptance speech. Shortly after her speech, netizens reportedly began mourning for Richard, who had to then clarify about the confusion. He tweeted:

While fans's doubts were cleared, they still had several questions. Many asked if they were somehow related to each other. Several also expressed relief at realizing that Richard Dreyfuss was still doing well.

Comedian Dan Marse-Kapr made a hilarious observation when he tweeted that netizens were still sending condolences to Dreyfuss even after assuming he was no more.

"I can’t stop laughing at the idea of ppl sending concerned tweets to @RichardDreyfuss even though they think he died," Dan wrote.

To clarify again, Julia's father, Gérard Louis-Dreyfus, was a French-American businessman and billionaire. Born in France in 1932, Gérard shifted to the US following his parents' divorce. While beginning his career as a lawyer, he soon became a businessman. Gérard was also the chairman of the Poetry Society of America. At the time of his death, Celebrity Net Worth listed his net worth as $4 billion.

Richard Dreyfuss is a 76-year-old actor who has been a part of popular movies, including The Competition, Jaws, The Goodbye Girl, Mr. Holland's Opus, and Stakeout. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Goodbye Girl. He was last seen in a 2023 biological sports movie, Sweetwater. As of now, his net worth has been determined to be $5 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

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Netizens slam Richard Dreyfuss for his allegedly problematic comments at an event

On Saturday, May 25, Richard Dreyfuss appeared at The Cabot Theater in Beverly for "An Evening With Richard Dreyfuss + Jaws Screening." However, the event reportedly became questionable after Dreyfuss made some "offensive" comments. Shortly after the event ended, netizens flooded the internet to slam the actor. According to reports by Deadline, the actor made comments like,

"You shouldn’t be listening to some 10-year-old who says they want to be a boy instead of a girl."

Attendees soon took to The Cabot’s official Facebook page and condemned the comments made by the 76-year-old actor.

"We walked out of his interview tonight along with hundred [sic] of others because of his racist homophobic misogynistic rant," one person wrote.

"This was disgusting. How could the Cabot not have vetted his act better. Apparently (I found out too late), he has a reputation for spewing this kind of racist, homophobic, misogynistic bullcrap," another person said.

On May 27, the venue released a statement saying it regretted that an event that was supposed to be insightful turned out offensive to people.

"The views expressed by Mr Dreyfuss do not reflect the values of inclusivity and respect that we uphold as an organisation. We deeply regret the distress that this has caused to many of our patrons," the statement read.

"We take full responsibility for the oversight in not anticipating the direction of the conversation and for the discomfort it caused to many patrons," The Cabot Theatre said.

News outlets have also tried reaching out to Dreyfuss' representatives to get a comment on the current situation. As of now, no response has been received.