Bill Murray Says He Was ‘Barbecued’ for ‘Being Mortal’ Inappropriate Misconduct
Bill Murray opened up in a new interview about the incident that led to Being Mortal, Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut, being shut down in what was described at the time as Murray’s “inappropriate behavior.”
In a conversation discussing his new movie The Friend with The New York Times, Murray was asked about the parallels between Walter, the film’s character he portrays, and his own experience with both of them being accused of “inappropriate misconduct.” When asked if he thought about that, Murray said, “I don’t go too many days or weeks without thinking of what happened in Being Mortal.”
In 2022, production on Being Mortal was suspended after a complaint or “inappropriate behavior” was made against Murray. At the time, Searchlight Pictures said in an email to the production crew that it looked into the incident. “After reviewing the circumstances, it has been decided that production cannot continue at this time,” the company said.
In Murray’s interview with The Times, he detailed some of the specifics of what happened, saying that he had been “trying to make peace, but instead I ended up being, to my mind, barbecued.”
He added that the incident was with someone he worked with, and it was a person who he’d had lunch with several times a week. It took place during a time when everyone on set was wearing masks due to Covid.
“We were all stranded in this one room listening to this crazy scene. I dunno what prompted me to do it,” he said. “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,” he continued. “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.”
Murray said the incident still bothers him since the film was indefinitely suspended shortly after and “that movie was stopped by the human rights or ‘H & R’ of the Disney corporation, which is probably a little bit more strident than some other countries’.”
“It turned out there were pre-existing conditions and all this kind of stuff. I’m like, what? How was anyone supposed to know anything like that?” he said. “There was no conversation, there was nothing. There was no peacemaking, nothing. It went to this lunatic arbitration, which, if anyone ever suggests you go to arbitration: Don’t do it. Never ever do it. Because you think it’s justice, and it isn’t.”
He added that he believed he has learned from the experience, but that “it was a great disappointment, because 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.”
Adapted from Sigrid Nunez’s novel, the Scott McGehee and David Siegel-directed The Friend stars Naomi Watts, who plays a New York writer that is saddled with the dog of her friend Walter (Murray) followin his death. The film was widely released in theaters on Friday.
