The son of Hollywood legend Richard Dreyfuss has publicly revealed the profound and lasting estrangement that has separated him and his siblings from their Oscar-winning father, a rift he claims was catalysed by the MeToo movement.
The Public Revelation of a Private Rift
Ben Dreyfuss, a 39-year-old journalist and the eldest son of Richard Dreyfuss and his ex-wife Jeramie Rain, took to social media platform X on 13 November to clarify his family's financial and emotional situation. In a series of posts that were later deleted, Ben directly addressed a common public misconception. "Everyone assumes my siblings and I are wealthy from our dad and we're all a bit too uncomfortable to make it clear, but we have no money from my dad," he wrote, as reported by USA Today.
He elaborated further, stating, "My dad has no money. If he did, we wouldn't get it since we've been estranged ever since some complicated family drama to do with MeToo." This public statement pulled back the curtain on a private family conflict that has been simmering for years.
The MeToo Incident That Fractured a Family
The roots of this estrangement trace back to 2017, a pivotal year when the #MeToo movement gained global momentum. At the time, Ben was managing the Twitter account for his father, the 78-year-old star of cinematic classics like Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
In a show of solidarity, Ben used the account to post a message supporting his younger brother, Harry, who had accused actor Kevin Spacey of groping him when he was 18 years old. Spacey's legal representative denied these allegations at the time.
According to Ben, this act of public support for his brother had an unintended and devastating consequence. "That tweet prompted someone to MeToo my dad. He blames us for that," Ben explained on X. "This led to years of acrimony." Indeed, less than a week after Harry's allegations against Spacey became public, writer Jessica Teich accused Richard Dreyfuss of sexual harassment, allegations which the actor denied.
A Final Plea and a Bitter Exchange
The full depth of the family breakdown was further exposed in a piece Ben published on his Substack blog, Calm Down. After noting he removed his X posts because he did not desire sympathy, he shared a poignant final email exchange with his father from January 2024.
In his email, Ben expressed his hurt and confusion. "I’m obviously rather hurt by the fact that you don't want to reconcile with me," he wrote. He described a previous statement about severing ties as a "rhetorical flourish" and confessed, "It had never occurred to me that we actually would become estranged. I still have a hard time completely understanding it."
He made a heartfelt appeal, writing, "I know you love me. I know I hurt you, but you're a smart guy. You understand how people can love each other and also hurt each other... I think you miss me — I hope you do at least — and that you’re mad and waiting for me to say something that solves it all. I wish I could say whatever those words are."
The alleged response from Richard Dreyfuss was starkly different, presenting a contrasting narrative for the estrangement. He accused Ben of calling him a homophobic slur in a restaurant and claimed that both Ben and his daughter Emily believed they "could demand money" from his current wife, Svetlana Erokhin.
"You had no problem yelling at the top of your lungs that I was a ‘f*****,’" the Goodbye Girl star allegedly wrote. "YOU BOTH ADMITTED TO LYING TO ME ABOUT HOW YOU HATED ME FOR TEN YEARS." Richard Dreyfuss was married to Janelle Lacey from 1999 to 2005 before marrying Erokhin in 2006.
This family dispute emerges against a backdrop of recent controversy for the veteran actor. In 2024, Richard Dreyfuss faced significant backlash after he was reported to have launched into a sexist and homophobic rant during a special screening of Jaws, an incident which prompted multiple attendees to walk out. According to witnesses on X, he "insulted all women" and made derogatory comments about transgender children. A representative for Dreyfuss could not be reached for comment on the family estrangement.
