Richard Dreyfuss’ son claims he and his siblings are broke and ‘estranged’ from Oscar-winning Jaws star

by

Richard Dreyfuss’ son says he and his brothers haven’t spoken to their famous father, the Oscar winner, for several years, causing a family rift.

Ben Dreyfuss, a 39-year-old journalist with Mother Jones, recently shared on X (formerly Twitter) that he and his siblings, Emily and Harry, haven’t received any financial support from their father, despite his estimated $5 million net worth. He later deleted the posts.

78-year-old actor Richard Dreyfuss has three children – Ben, Harry, and Emily – with his former wife, Jeramie Rain, who is 77. In a series of social media posts on November 13th, his son Ben claimed that Dreyfuss, originally from Brooklyn, New York, is currently facing financial difficulties.

He also mentioned that if he were to help, we wouldn’t receive it, as we’ve been distant from each other due to a complex family situation involving accusations of misconduct.

Ben explained that he was handling his father’s social media in the fall of 2017, right around the time the #MeToo movement started gaining attention.

Roy Scheider, best known for his role as Matt Hooper in the classic 1975 film Jaws, has faced criticism and lost public favor recently due to his outspoken and often controversial opinions.

In 2024, a well-known actor caused controversy by speaking out against the MeToo movement and transgender youth, and surprisingly, even criticized Barbra Streisand, all while performing on stage in a dress.

Ben used his account to publicly support his brother, Harry, after Harry alleged that Kevin Spacey had acted inappropriately towards him when Harry was 18. (A lawyer for Spacey refuted these claims in 2017.)

He stated that a series of events led to someone accusing his father of sexual misconduct. His father is known for directing popular films like “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” (1986), “What About Bob?” (1991), and “Mr. Holland’s Opus” (1995).

Ben explained that his father thought the accusation against Spacey led to someone falsely accusing him of misconduct, referencing the ‘Me Too’ movement.

Dreyfuss claimed he didn’t intentionally expose himself to journalist Jessica Teich. He told Vulture he thought they were engaged in a mutually agreed-upon, flirtatious interaction as they collaborated on a TV script.

The actor shared with the publication that not being understood caused him to re-examine all of his past relationships, questioning whether they were truly as equal and lighthearted as he’d believed.

Ben explained that this caused years of strained relations with his father, who won an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1978 for his role in ‘The Goodbye Girl’.

Ben continued to share details about his family life this Monday in a blog post on Substack. He included a copy of an email conversation he had with the actor from Close Encounters of the Third Kind back in January 2024.

Ben admitted, ‘He looks worse than me, and it’s a pretty sad situation overall, but I don’t exactly come out looking good either.’

The emails detailed a conversation between Ben and his father about Ben’s behavior at a family dinner in San Francisco in 2022.

Ben admitted he didn’t explain himself well when responding to accusations of favoritism.

I didn’t get a chance to fully explain what I was thinking because you and Emily jumped in, and then we all ended up yelling at each other about something completely different – arguing about who was at fault for everything, instead of the original issue,” Ben said.

Ben confessed to using a hurtful, anti-gay slur during an argument with his father, but explained he’d been working for most of the year to apologize and make things right.

Richard, in a post on Substack, strongly criticized Ben and Emily for how they acted during the 2022 incident in San Francisco, saying they both overstepped.

Richard allegedly told his son in the email: ‘AT LEAST KEEP THIS ONE LETTER. 

This will be your last chance if you don’t show some courage. Otherwise, you need to prove you’re better than your sibling.

He reportedly said, “Just start writing to me without trying to rehash everything we discussed last night at the restaurant.”

I wasn’t going to respond until I saw someone address the false information and misrepresentations that had been concealing important feelings and values from me.

The actor also mentioned he thought Ben believed his father was secretly saving money from him. This conversation with Ben was the last time he spoke to his father.

Ben wrote on his blog about his father, saying he’s always loved him. He feels his father deserves better than to be discussed in an email, but this seems to be the last message he’ll ever receive from him, which is incredibly upsetting.

Emily, an editor at The San Francisco Standard, shared on social media Tuesday that she felt relieved the information was now public.

Emily explained that since her falling out with her father, she’s struggled to write. It was the first time she’d felt unable to express her deepest thoughts.

Ben and I are processing this sadness in our own ways, but I feel much better now that we’re finally talking about it.

The Daily Mail has contacted Richard Dreyfuss for more information about this story, but he hasn’t responded yet.

Read More

2025-11-20 20:24