Hollywood recently announced the implementation of new “diversity and inclusion guidelines” at the Academy Awards starting next year.
Richard Dreyfuss, who won Best Actor at the 1978 Oscars, had strong words in response to this news.
He said that the standards make him “vomit” and posed some rhetorical questions about how art is art.
In an interview with PBS anchor Margaret Hoover, Dreyfuss responded to her question about what he thought of these new inclusion standards for films by saying that, “they make me vomit.”
Actor Richard Dreyfuss says Hollywood’s new inclusivity standards make him want to vomit. Good. More actors, directors and producers need to speak up. Not all great stories are diverse. Not all true stories are diverse. Forced diversity hurts everyone.
pic.twitter.com/UhU0htJdo3— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) May 7, 2023
Further discussing his opinion on the matter, he stated that it should not be up to someone else to dictate what morality is when it comes to art.
Moreover, he did not think any group in society should be given special treatment or catered to in such a way.
Dreyfuss also brought up Lawrence Olivier’s acclaimed performance as Othello in 1965.
This was particularly controversial due to Oliver wearing blackface during his performance – something which has been strongly criticized since then.
However, Dreyfuss argued that no one should be told they cannot play a certain role because of their race or religion.
After all, shouldn’t art just be art?
‘Jaws’ star Richard Dreyfuss slams new Oscars diversity rules https://t.co/w0ItxSFEqu pic.twitter.com/E2u3Qv3ELF
— New York Post (@nypost) May 7, 2023
