The first sneak preview was held on the Paramount Pictures lot and the second was held at the Fox Bruin Theater. At the Bruin Theater, West received a standing ovation after the film's end. After failing to find a distributor, the producers decided to release the film themselves. "Sextette" premiered at the Cinerama Dome in March 1978. West was moved when she was greeted by thousands of young fans who showed up at the openings, there and in San Francisco. Arthur Knight wrote in "The Hollywood Reporter" about "a kind of odd gallantry in the octogenarian Mae's loyalty to her public". Upon its premiere, most critics panned the film. "Variety" dubbed it "a cruel, unnecessary and mostly unfunny musical comedy." "The New York Times"' critic Vincent Canby called "Sextette" "embarrassing", and said, in reference to West, that "Granny should have her mouth washed out with soap, along with her teeth." Film critics Rex Reed also gave the film a negative review, calling the film "a total, unbearable bomb, more like a training film for retired French whores than anything else." On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 18% based on eleven reviews, with an average rating of 3.8/10. "Sextette" earned $31,000 in its first week, largely due to West's appearance at the premiere. The film earned about an additional $20,000 in the United States before being pulled from theaters. Against its budget of $4 million to $8 million, it was a box-office bomb. "Sextette" was released on VHS by Media Home Entertainment in 1982. In April 2011, Scorpion Entertainment released the film on Region 1 DVD in the United States. In July 2011, "Sextette" was released as part of Mill Creek Entertainment's "Dangerous Babes", a budget-priced, three-DVD set that includes 11 other Crown Pictures films.