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Hollywood’s new diversity inclusion standards are “thoughtless” and “patronizing,” Richard Dreyfuss said in an interview Friday. The Jaws star further claimed the new eligibility standards “make me vomit” as he defended Laurence Olivier’s 1965 “blackface” rendition of Shakespeare’s Othello.
In an interview on PBS’s Firing Line with Margaret Hoover, Dreyfuss sat down to discuss America’s “civics crisis” while weighing in on the Academy of Motion Pictures’ diversity inclusion standards which will require films to meet standards in representation categories to qualify for the Best Picture category starting from the 96th Oscars in 2024.
Asked what he thought of the new standards which are to go into effect next year, the Oscar-winner, who claimed to “really love being an American,” bluntly expressed his dismay.
“They make me vomit,” he replied.
«I think we’re in the endgame right now.»
Actor @RichardDreyfuss discusses restoring civics education and his fears for the nation’s future. Plus, he reacts to Hollywood’s new inclusion standards: «They make me vomit.»
TONIGHT 8:30 pm ET@PBS listings: https://t.co/yjV9uYyL5J pic.twitter.com/njuxohjD5d
Firing Line with Margaret Hoover (@FiringLineShow) May 5, 2023
When questioned why, Dreyfuss explained art shouldn’t be governed by the latest “moral” fad.
“Because this is an art form,” he said. “It’s also a form of commerce, and it makes money, but it’s an art.”
“And no one should be telling me as an artist that I have to give in to the latest, most current idea of what morality is,” he added.
He also argued one cannot “legislate” over the perceived slighting of others.
“And what are we risking? Are we really risking hurting people’s feelings? You can’t legislate that. And you have to let life be life,” he said.
PBS promises to get more woke! https://t.co/1KGGcr1ZL5
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 15, 2021
“And I’m sorry, I don’t think that there is a minority or a majority in the country that has to be catered to like that,” he added.
