Richard Dreyfuss’s son says he’s estranged from Oscar-winning father who has ‘no money’

The actor’s son says he’s been estranged from his father after ‘some complicated family drama to do with MeToo’

Richard Dreyfuss’s son, Ben, says he and his siblings have been estranged from their Oscar-winning father for years.

The 39-year-old journalist, who is Richard and his ex-wife Jeramie Rain’s eldest son, shared a series of since-deleted posts on X on November 13 about his relationship with his father.

“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 on social media, as captured by USA Today.

“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.”

Ben said his relationship with his father — the 78-year-old actor known for his roles in Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind — began to fracture years ago over a specific incident. Around the time the #MeToo movement gained momentum in 2017, Ben was reportedly managing Richard’s Twitter account and posted a message supporting his younger brother, Harry, who had accused Kevin Spacey of groping him at 18. Spacey’s lawyer denied the allegations at the time.

Ben Dreyfuss (left) says he’s been estrange from his father Richard since the MeToo movement in 2017 (Getty Images)

Robert Shaw, Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfuss in ‘Jaws’ (Peacock)

“That tweet prompted someone to MeToo my dad. He blames us for that,” Ben wrote on X. “This led to years of acrimony.”

The American Graffiti actor was accused of sexual harassment by writer Jessica Teich less than a week after Harry’s allegations went public, which he denied.

Ben later published a piece on his Substack blog, Calm Down, about his father Monday. After explaining that he deleted his recent X posts because he didn’t want any “sympathy,” he shared his last email exchange with his father, which was dated January 2024.

“I’m obviously rather hurt by the fact that you don't want to reconcile with me,” he wrote. “I said once in that email that I wanted to sever ties with you but that was just a rhetorical flourish. It had never occurred to me that we actually would become estranged. I still have a hard time completely understanding it. 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.”

He continued: “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.”

Richard’s alleged response accused Ben of calling him a homophobic slur in a restaurant, and said that his son (and daughter Emily) thought 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 was also married to Janelle Lacey from 1999 to 2005 and married Erokhin in 2006.

In 2024, Richard faced backlash after he allegedly launched into a sexist and homophobic rant at a special screening of his movie Jaws, prompting multiple guests to walk out of the event. According to people on X who attend the screening, he allegedly “insulted all women” and transgender children.

A representative for Dreyfuss was not immediately obtainable.