Bill Murray is still grappling with the controversy that brought the production of Being Mortal to a halt and drastically altered how people view him.
Back in April 2022, the actor was accused of inappropriate conduct involving a young crew member on the set of Disney’s Searchlight Pictures adaptation of Being Mortal.
The incident reportedly involved Murray kissing the crew member during a rehearsal, and it led to a settlement of over $100,000. The film, which was already in production, was never completed and Murray’s image took a serious blow.
In a candid conversation on The Daily podcast by The New York Times, Murray opened up about how the situation continues to affect him. “I don’t go too many days or weeks without thinking about it,” he said.
Being Mortal was being directed by Aziz Ansari and featured Seth Rogen and Keke Palmer in pivotal roles. But the production came to a sudden stop after a complaint was formally raised.
Murray explained that the incident happened during a rehearsal in a closed room – all while adhering to COVID protocols. He recalled that he kissed a female crew member, both of them masked. “It wasn’t like I touched her,” he said. “It was just a kiss through a mask, through another mask, to another person. And she wasn’t a stranger.”
He described the act as something he had done before, thinking it was just a harmless joke. “I thought it was funny. To me, it’s still funny. It’s stupid. That’s all it was.” However, the woman involved didn’t see it that way, leading to an internal investigation by Searchlight. Murray said he was caught off guard by how serious the situation became. “I thought I was trying to make peace,” he said. “I ended up, in my mind, being barbecued.” He added that there was never a direct conversation or chance to clarify things. “It just went straight to what he called ‘lunatic arbitration.'”
Murray also mentioned how the studio’s HR team responded – in a way he described with dry humor. “More intense than some countries’ entire governments,” he joked. He said they told him there were “preexisting conditions,” something he claimed he was unaware of. “How is anyone supposed to know stuff like that?” he asked.
But what seems to linger most for Murray is the public reaction and the broader implications on his legacy. “When someone has an episode like mine on Being Mortal, the world goes searching for more proof that this person is a monster – an absolute monster,” he said. “I’ve had interactions with hundreds of thousands of people over 40-50 years. You can come up with half a dozen bad ones. If you really worked, maybe a couple dozen. But that’s not the full story.”
While on the podcast, Murray also took the opportunity to respond to other past accusations. Addressing Geena Davis’ claim of inappropriate behavior on Quick Change, and Richard Dreyfuss’ allegation that Murray once threw an ashtray at him during What About Bob?, the actor pushed back.
“That story’s never gonna be true,” Murray said of the Dreyfuss allegation. “If I’d have thrown it at Dreyfuss, I’d have hit him.” He clarified that he did throw something, but not at anyone directly. “I threw it up in a far corner of the townhouse, assuming it might break upon contact with the ceiling and the walls, but I didn’t throw it at anyone.”
When asked whether he took anything away from the Being Mortal episode, Murray paused. “You can teach an old dog new tricks.” Still, he added that he continues to feel misrepresented in the public eye.
