Dreyfuss Son Reveals Fatherly Rift Fueled by #MeToo Backlash
Ben Dreyfuss, son of the acclaimed actor Richard Dreyfuss, has recently spoken out regarding what he describes as a rift with his celebrated parent.
On Thursday, November 13, the 39-year-old Ben asserted in a now-removed X (formerly Twitter) post, cited by USA Today, that “My father possesses no wealth.” He further elaborated, “Even if he did, it wouldn't reach us, as we've been disconnected since a significant family conflict tied to the #MeToo movement concluded.”
Ben states that during the peak of the influential #MeToo phenomenon in 2017, he was in charge of his Academy Award-winning father’s Twitter profile. During that period, Ben composed a tweet from his father's account, expressing solidarity with his younger sibling, Harry, who had accused Kevin Spacey of sexual misconduct when Harry was 18 years old. (Spacey's legal representative refuted these accusations at the time.)
In the aforementioned deleted posts, Ben explained that these statements “resulted in a #MeToo accusation against my father,” and that Richard later held his offspring responsible for what transpired.
Ben communicated via X that “This initiated a prolonged period of bitterness,” as reported by USA Today.
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Richard is father to three adult offspring — Ben, Emily Robin, and Harry — from his former marriage to writer and producer Jeramie Rain. The couple exchanged vows in the early 1980s before separating in 1995. Richard then wed Janelle Lacey in 1999, a marriage that concluded in divorce in 2005.
Through his Substack newsletter, Calm Down, on Monday, November 17, Ben released what he asserts are email exchanges with his father since the purported incident — efforts, he contends, to mend their relationship with the 78-year-old Richard.
“I have dispatched numerous messages subsequently, but he has not responded,” Ben penned, describing one purported email from January 2024 as “lengthy and pitiful.”
Ben commented, “He appears in a less favorable light than I do,” but conceded, “though I am hardly depicted heroically myself.”
Within the presumed January email, Ben seemingly endeavors to clarify events from a 2022 family meal, where he reportedly expressed his grievances and complex emotions regarding accusations of him leveraging nepotism. (Richard, a prominent leading actor throughout the 1970s, has garnered an Academy Award, a BAFTA, and a Golden Globe for his diverse performances.)
“I failed to articulate any of this clearly, and I hadn't even concluded my point before you and Emily began to speak, leading to us all yelling at each other about an entirely different subject concerning fault,” Ben asserted in the alleged correspondence, subsequently confessing to having used a homophobic insult directed at his father.
In an email Ben presents as a reply from his father, Richard purportedly informed his son, “I possess funds that I am withholding from you.”
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Richard reportedly conveyed, “AT MINIMUM, RETAIN THIS CORRESPONDENCE. IT SHALL BE THE FINAL ONE UNLESS YOU CEASE YOUR COWARDICE. OR BEGIN TO SURPASS YOUR BROTHER OR SISTER.” He allegedly continued, “AS I PREVIOUSLY STATED, TO COMMENCE WRITING TO ME WITHOUT ANY EFFORT TO CLARIFY EVERYTHING YOU UTTERED ON OUR FINAL EVENING AT THE RESTAURANT. UNTIL YOU ALL SUBMITTED SOMETHING ADDRESSING THE FALSEHOODS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS THAT CONCEALED A DIVERGENT SET OF EMOTIONS AND PRINCIPLES FROM ME, I WOULD NOT ENGAGE WITH YOU.”
Per Ben's account, this marks the final communication he has received from his father.
Us Weekly has sought a statement from Richard regarding these claims.
