The investigation into Bill Murray’s alleged assault on the set of Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut, Being Mortal, paints a troubling picture of one of America’s favorite comedians. Per Puck (via The Daily Beast), numerous sources said Murray allegedly straddled and, through a mask, kissed a “much younger” female on the production who was “horrified.” That staffer “interpreted his actions as entirely sexual.”
At the time, Murray gave a vague explanation: “I did something I thought was funny and it wasn’t taken that way.” Puck says that they settled for $100,000.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the only Bill Murray misconduct in the news this week. Oscar-winner Geena Davis revealed in her memoir that Murray berated her on the set of Quick Change, which Murray co-starred in and co-directed with Howard Franklin.
Davis’ memoir, Dying Of Politeness, seemingly starts with another one of Murray’s attempts at humor. According to The Times (U.K.) (via Deadline), upon meeting Murray, he greeted her “with something called The Thumper, a massage device he insists on using on her, despite her emphatically refusing.” Later, as the production was at a filming location, Murray screamed at her for being late, even though she was “waiting for her wardrobe.” He continued to “scream at her as she hurries onto the set and even as she gets there, in front of hundreds of cast, crew, curious passers-by.”
“That was bad,” Davis told The Times. “The way he behaved at the first meeting… I should have walked out of that or profoundly defended myself, in which case I wouldn’t have got the part. I could have avoided that treatment if I’d known how to react or what to do during the audition. But, you know, I was so non-confrontational that I just didn’t.”
Murray has a history of alleged improper behavior toward his female co-workers. In 2021, Lucy Liu recalled his “inexcusable” behavior on Charlie’s Angels.
“As we’re doing the scene, Bill starts to sort of hurl insults, and I won’t get into the specifics, but it kept going on and on,” Liu said on a 2021 episode of the L.A. Times’ Asian Enough podcast. “I was not going to just sit there and take it. So, yes, I stood up for myself, and I don’t regret it. Because no matter how low on the totem pole you may be or wherever you came from, there’s no need to condescend or to put other people down. And I would not stand down, and nor should I have.”