Richard Dreyfuss’ son, Ben Dreyfuss, is speaking candidly about what he describes as his family’s long-standing and “complicated” estrangement from the Oscar-winning actor. The 39-year-old former Mother Jones journalist took to social media last week to claim that he and his siblings — Emily and Harry — have not had a meaningful relationship with their famous father for years following a series of painful family incidents.

Richard Dreyfuss, 78, shares his three children with ex-wife Jeramie Rain. The couple divorced in 1995, and the actor has long been open about his own battles with addiction and depression, issues he once said made parenting more challenging during his early Hollywood career (People Magazine).

Ben says he and his siblings receive no financial support

In a since-deleted post shared on November 13, Ben wrote that contrary to public assumptions, he and his siblings have not benefited financially from their father’s decades-long Hollywood success. “Everyone assumes my siblings and I are wealthy from our dad,” he wrote, “but we have no money from my dad.” (USA Today).

He went on to claim that the estrangement began “ever since some complicated family drama to do with MeToo,” adding bluntly: “My dad has no money. If he did, we wouldn’t get it.”

Estrangement linked to brother Harry’s allegations against Kevin Spacey

Ben explained that the “drama” stemmed from sexual misconduct allegations made by his younger brother, Harry Dreyfuss, against actor Kevin Spacey. Harry publicly accused Spacey in a widely circulated 2017 BuzzFeed News essay, claiming the actor groped him in 2008 — allegations Spacey has repeatedly denied (BBC News).

Following the essay’s release, Ben says he posted a message supporting Harry from their father’s Twitter account. According to Ben, that tweet prompted an unnamed woman to come forward with her own sexual misconduct allegations against Richard Dreyfuss — accusations the actor denied at the time (The Hollywood Reporter).

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

Ben shares final email exchange with his father

Ben has since elaborated further in a lengthy Substack post, where he revealed the final email exchange he had with his father — the last message, he says, Richard ever responded to.

“You’ve possibly already seen this in the papers, but I don’t talk to my dad anymore,” Ben wrote. “It’s easy to write that like it’s nothing, but it’s been sitting in my head like a monster for years.”

The email in question appears to have been written sometime after a tense 2022 family dinner in San Francisco. In his message, Ben apologized for an argument in which the family “screamed at each other” about blame, responsibility, and the fallout from the MeToo accusations.

Richard’s response, which Ben says arrived in mostly all-caps, was blistering.

“AT LEAST KEEP THIS ONE LETTER,” the actor wrote. “IT’LL BE THE LAST ONE UNLESS YOU STOP BEING A COWARD. OR START BEING BETTER THAN YOUR BROTHER OR SISTER.”

Ben says he has reached out multiple times since, but Richard has not replied.

Despite everything, Ben says he still loves his father

In his Substack post, Ben clarified that his intention was not to shame or attack his father but to finally speak honestly about a private pain.

“I love my father. I have always loved him,” Ben wrote. “I think he’s better than this email. But it’s been two years, and this appears to be the last email I’m ever going to get from him, so f–k it.”

Emily Dreyfuss adds her voice to the family conversation

Emily Dreyfuss, 42, later addressed the situation on X (formerly Twitter), expressing her own grief about the years-long estrangement.

“Ever since we became estranged from our dad, it’s been nearly impossible for me to write,” she said. “For the first time, the thing most on my mind was something I couldn’t talk about.”

She added that while she and Ben have “different experiences of this sadness,” she is relieved that the truth is finally out in the open.

A family once seen as close now fractured

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Richard Dreyfuss often appeared at premieres and award shows with his children. The family attended the Academy Awards together in 1996, and the actor brought Ben along to several red carpets in the 2010s during the promotion of his films and TV projects (Variety).

But according to all three siblings, the past decade has been marked by distance, distrust, and unresolved anger. For now, the Dreyfuss family’s public statements suggest that reconciliation remains uncertain.

As one of Hollywood’s most respected actors — known for classics like Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and his Oscar-winning performance in The Goodbye Girl — Richard Dreyfuss now finds himself facing a complicated and painful chapter far removed from the spotlight that defined his career.