For decades now, Bill Murray has been the benchmark for comedy in films. His antics and dialogue delivery on-screen have been lauded while his deadpan presentation of humor always takes the crown no matter how many other actors are in the scene. But there is a hard line separating the reel world from real life and the latest slew of allegations against Murray seem to be prominently highlighting this very difference.
Murray’s on-set behavior has become a topic of hot debates after a recent report did a deep dive into his “inappropriate behavior” that had led to the production of Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut Being Mortal being halted back in April 2022.
The report alleged that the actor has paid an eye-watering settlement of $100,000 to a “much younger” female crew member of the film as during the production, the 72-year-old kissed and straddled the very “horrified” woman, who “interpreted his actions as entirely sexual” and naturally filed a complaint against him.
The settlement reportedly means the concerned crew member will “maintain confidentiality” as well as waive off “any legal claims she might make against the producers.” Earlier this year, Murray had addressed the issue and claimed that he did “something I thought was funny, and it wasn’t taken that way.”
Well, while the dust seems to be settling on this one, Murray is far from getting rid of all the other allegations against him — some of which are more recent than the Being Mortal fiasco — that put a whole new spin on the known fact that the Ghostbuster’s star can be difficult to work with.
Geena Davis on how Bill Murray made her uncomfortable multiple times
Davis’ memoir Dying of Politeness was released after the whole Being Mortal report and it serves to glaringly highlight how Murray’s on-set behavior being questioned isn’t an isolated incident.
In her memoir (via People), she revisits the time she worked with the actor on Quick Change in 1990. She was introduced to him in a hotel suite, where Murray reportedly “insisted” on using a massage device on her and refused to take no for an answer even though Davis made her disagreement clear.
“I would have had to yell at him and cause a scene if I was to get him to give up trying to force me to do it; the other men in the room did nothing to make it stop. I realized with profound sadness that I didn’t yet have the ability to withstand this onslaught — or to simply walk out.”
According to Davis, his problematic attitude didn’t end there. On the New York set of the film, he yelled at her in front of more than 300 people who were present there.
In her book, Davis also recounts an interview she did with Murray, who tried to pull down the straps of her dress while she was speaking. As revealed by the actress in a chat with People, while she met up with the Charlie’s Angels star after the film was made for the sake of publicity, she has kept her distance from him since then.
The ‘nice’ or ‘tough’ Bill Murray dilemma for SNL hosts
After being a cast member of Saturday Night Live for years, Murray returned to host the show five times between 1981 and 1999, of which Rob Schneider had the (mis)fortune of witnessing two as he was a part of the cast from 1990 to 1994. During a recent appearance on The Jim Norton & Sam Roberts Show (via THR), Schneider revealed whenever Murray was due to host the show, the cast was given some very specific reminders to put them on guard.
“Bill Murray is gonna come, he’s gonna change the dialogue. He’s gonna change things, and it’s gonna be great, but you don’t know who you’re gonna get. Which Bill Murray you’re gonna get. The nice Bill Murray? Or you’re gonna get the tough Bill Murray?” Schneider recalled.
As explained by Schneider, the comedian was “super nice” to fans but didn’t extend the same jovial treatment to the SNL cast members, especially Chris Farley and Adam Sandler. According to the former host, Murray “hated Chris Farley with a passion” and was “just seething looking at him.” Farley’s “cool to be that out of control” style was probably the reason for the actor’s dislike.
As for Sandler, Murray “really hated” him too because “he just wasn’t into that groove of it, you know? And Sandler was just committed to it, and just like… as soon as he would get on, you could see the audience just ate him up.”
Apparently, Schneider didn’t face the brunt of Murray’s alleged Mean Girls’ aura as he seemingly despised him less than he did others.
Seth Green on how Bill Murray left him “horrified”
On a recent episode of Tell The Truth Or Eat The Nasty Food, Seth Green took a trip down memory lane and recounted how he made the apparently grave mistake of sitting in a chair that Murray had clearly marked as his. The actor made a “big fuss” about Green being in his seat even though it was more like a couch and the Family Guy star was just occupying its arm, leaving enough space for Murray.
When Green refused to budge, Murray “picked me up by my ankles” and “held me upside down…dangled me over a trash can and he was like, ‘The trash goes in the trash can’.”
“And I was screaming, and I swung my arms, flailed wildly, full contact with his balls. He dropped me in the trash can [and] the trash can falls over. I was horrified. I ran away, hid under the table in my dressing room and just cried.”
Lucy Liu’s clash with Bill Murray
Last year, during an appearance on the Asian Enough podcast (via Deadline), Lucy Liu revealed how Bill Murray unnecessarily targeted her on the set of the 2000 film Charlie’s Angels. Apparently, Murray was absent for a significant interval of time while the film was being shot. In this duration, a scene was rewritten, though Liu, who was an actress at the beginning of her career at the time, had little to do with the reworked script.
When Murray learned about the rewrites, he started “to sort of hurl insults” at her and even resorted to using language that was “inexcusable and unacceptable.” But though she wasn’t as famous as the rest of the cast, Liu refused to be wrongfully subjected to blatant disrespect.
“I stood up for myself, and I don’t regret it,” she said. “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.”
The McG and Bill Murray altercation
In a chat with The Guardian in May 2009, Charlie’s Angels director McG alleged that during the production of the film, the actor head-butted him so hard that had it been an inch below, his nose would have been “obliterated.” But as far as Murray is concerned, the story is “complete crap” and is just a figment of McG’s “very active imagination.”
Richard Dreyfuss on Murray being a ‘bully’
Dreyfuss added to the infamous saga of Murray’s alleged on-set dramas in 2019 in an interview with Yahoo wherein he shared how the actor was like “an Irish drunken bully” during the production of What About Bob (1991). He even threw a heavy ashtray at him that could have really hurt him had he not missed. But for Murray, it was a win-win scenario as the fact that he and Dreyfuss did not get along worked for the film where his character consistently annoys the latter’s Dr. Leo Marvin.
What About Bob? producer was ‘outraged’ by Bill Murray
Back in 2003, Laura Ziskin revealed how her clashing with Murray on the set of What About Bob? was a common occurrence. But it escalated when he threw her in a lake — which Ziskin wrote off as a playful antic — and then proceeded to threaten her that he would throw her across the parking lot. He broke her sunglasses and chucked them across the parking lot, which left Ziskin very “furious and outraged at the time, but having produced a dozen movies, I can safely say it is not common behavior.”
The Bill Murray and Harold Ramis feud
Bill Murray’s on-set altercations also include his clash with his long-time friend Harold Ramis with whom he had a falling out while the latter was directing Groundhog Day. The duo was not in agreement when it came to the tone of the film and as written by Violet Ramis Stiel in Ghostbuster’s Daughter: Life With My Dad, Harold Ramis, the argument escalated to the point where “he grabbed Bill by the collar, and shoved him up against a wall.” After giving each other the cold shoulder for the next two decades, Murray eventually reconciled with Ramis before the latter passed away in 2010.
Murray hasn’t addressed many of the past allegations on this list. But given the onslaught of new accusations against the actor, it will take him quite some time to tackle every single one separately and obviously the new claims take precedence.
