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Richard Dreyfuss furious at Lisa Wilkinson over ‘Me Too’ questions

"The behaviour of those through whom you get your news is the reason I’m here this morning," Richard Dreyfuss told Today Extra.

"The behaviour of those through whom you get your news is the reason I’m here this morning," Richard Dreyfuss told Today Extra. Photo: Twitter

Lisa Wilkinson has been slammed in a bizarre rant by Hollywood star Richard Dreyfuss, who accused her of “mugging” him on The Project by asking about his implication in the ‘Me Too’ movement.

The Jaws leading man attacked Wilkinson and the Ten show as “malignant” in a explosive appearance on Nine’s Today Extra this morning.

“I was mugged the other night in Sydney, Australia,” he said.

“Not by a petty thief but by the host and hostesses of a talk show called The Project.”

Dreyfuss, 70, claimed Wilkinson and The Project committed “a breach of ethical behaviour” when he appeared on the show on Sunday with actor Kathleen Turner to promote the Supanova fan convention.

But a Network Ten spokesperson fired back, saying Dreyfuss had been provided with a written brief of questions before going on the show.

The Project rejects claims that Mr Dreyfuss was misled,” the spokesperson told The New Daily.

“At no stage did the program attempt to catch-out or entrap Mr Dreyfuss and it was never the intention of The Project panel to offend him.”

Today Extra hosts Sonia Kruger and David Campbell sat silently for minutes while Dreyfuss, on air via link from Perth, read a long prepared statement savaging Wilkinson and her show.

In November, a woman accused Dreyfuss of exposing himself to her in the 1980s.

Calling himself a “lowdown dirty dog” early on in his career, Dreyfuss said past actions “revolted” him.

Wilkinson, he said, asked: “Richard did you express your shame because you had worked at realising you had done something shameful or because you had been accused and caught out?”

Dreyfuss said the line of questioning was an ambush because he had been booked for a “light, friendly chat” on The Project about the science fiction fan convention he was promoting.

Dreyfuss said “two or three” of The Project’s staff repeated the claim that “light and friendly” would be the tone of the interview.

“Light and friendly did not survive until the end of the first sentence,” he said.

“Why they had made such a point of repeating we were going to have a light and friendly chat while keeping their real questions so secret, I have no idea.”

Dreyfuss said while he was “never” asked to “have the chat they wanted to have”, he might have said yes “had they asked it in the proper tone of voice”.

Instead, he said, “They chose to commit a breach of ethical behaviour, meant to be malignant and sly and known as wrong by every journalist in the world … unless you’re talking to someone who you’re trying to entrap because you think that he’s a murderer or a rapist.”

A Ten spokesperson rejected Mr Dreyfuss’ claims he had not been briefed on the line of questioning.

“In written correspondence with the Supanova publicist, an interview brief was provided three days prior which included the line of questioning The Project panel would put to both Richard Dreyfuss and Kathleen Turner.

“This included a discussion about their appearances at Supanova but also that the panel would address the #MeToo campaign and Mr Dreyfuss’ behaviour towards women in decades past.

“Given the public allegations made about Mr Dreyfuss, The Project would not have him on the program without addressing these issues and Mr Dreyfuss’ publicist was made aware of this.”

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