‘Jaws' Star Richard Dreyfuss Drops Out of Public Appearance Due to Viral Bronchitis Diagnosis: ‘I Feel Terrible About Not Showing Up'
Dreyfuss delivered the news of his diagnosis and his exit in a video post shared to the SharkCon Instagram on Saturday.
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He said, 'Hello, fellow cons. I am very, very sorry to tell you that I've been diagnosed with viral…viral…What is it?'
His wife, Svetlana Erokhin, then clarified off-screen that Dreyfuss had been infected with viral bronchitis.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by SharkCon (@shark_con)
Dreyfuss continued, 'I've been told by my doctors I cannot fly, and I would have to fly five hours to get [to SharkCon]. I'm terribly sorry because I had planned to be there and had been looking forward to it. But I'm unable to do so. I don't want to get anyone else sick, and I don't want to get sicker myself. I feel terrible about not showing up, and I feel worse about exposing you to this, apparently, very viral illness.'
Dreyfuss headlined Steven Spielberg's 1975 horror masterpiece alongside Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw. In 'Jaws,' the Oscar-winner played Matt Hooper, a wisecracking oceanologist and shark expert tasked with helping Chief Brody track down the vicious man-eater.
The 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' star made waves during another public appearance at a 'Jaws' retrospective screening in 2024. At the post-screening Q&A, Dreyfuss made controversial comments about the Oscars' new diversity requirements, trans people and the MeToo movement. The executive director of the event, J. Casey Soward, issued a statement in the fallout, apologizing for his remarks.
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