Bill Murray has opened up about feeling ‘barbecued’ in the wake of misconduct allegations that emerged during the filming of Aziz Ansari’s first directorial project, Being Mortal.
In April 2022, the 74-year-old actor faced accusations of inappropriate behavior from a younger female crew member. This led Searchlight Pictures, owned by Disney, to pause and eventually halt production on the comedy-drama film.
The movie had commenced filming a month before the complaint was filed, featuring Seth Rogen and Keke Palmer alongside Murray.
After Searchlight decided to pull the film, Ansari was unable to secure another financier and distributor, leaving Being Mortal unfinished.
Murray was implicated in the complaint and reportedly reached a settlement with the accuser, which was said to be slightly over $100,000, as reported by PEOPLE.
According to a report from that time, the Ghostbusters star allegedly ‘straddled’ the woman, who remained anonymous, on a prop bed and kissed her on the mouth while both were wearing masks due to the studio’s COVID-19 safety measures.
In a recent conversation with The New York Times about his latest film, The Friend, Murray confessed that he frequently reflects on the misconduct allegations.
“I don’t go too many days or weeks without thinking of what happened,” he mentioned to the outlet.
“It was Covid, we were all wearing masks and we were all stranded in this one room listening to this crazy scene. I dunno what prompted me to do it. It’s something that I had done to someone else before, and I thought it was funny, and every time it happened, it was funny.
“I was wearing a mask, and I gave her a kiss, and she was wearing a mask. It wasn’t like I touched her, but it was just, I gave her a kiss through a mask. And she wasn’t a stranger.”
The actor, known for his role in The Royal Tenenbaums, expressed that there was no reconciliation after the incident and described the whole affair as a ‘great disappointment.’
“I thought I knew someone, and I did not. I certainly thought it was light. I thought it was funny. To me, it’s still funny, the idea that you could give someone a kiss with a mask on. It’s still stupid. It’s all it was.”
When asked if he had gained any insights from the Being Mortal situation, Murray replied: “I think so.”
During the interview, he also addressed another allegation made by actress Geena Davis, an Academy Award winner. She had previously accused Murray of yelling at her in front of approximately ‘300 people’ on the set of Quick Change.
“There were easily more than 300 people there — and Murray was still screaming at me, for all to see and hear,” she recounted in her memoir, Dying of Politeness.
In his defense, Murray suggested that the Being Mortal incident led people to search for additional evidence that he was a problematic figure.
“Well, I’ve had interactions with hundreds of thousands of people over 40, 50 years. Now, you can come up with half a dozen [with bad experiences]. If you really worked, you’d probably come up with a couple dozen,” he stated.