Update On The Bill Murray Thing on "Being Mortal" Set

[Leo656]

So I thought this had its own thread but I couldn't find it, all I found was some speculation about it in one of the Ghostbusters threads. The gist was, the production of "Being Mortal" was shut down in Spring after allegations of "inappropriate conduct" by Bill Murray towards a female staffer. Now we finally have full details, as well as an update on the situation.

It's uh... well, I mean, I kinda see how HE might have thought it was "just a joke" but at the same time, in 2022 there's no f*cking way this kinda thing should have even been a thought in anyone's head. Like he's legit in his own world.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...193022593.html

New details emerge about Bill Murray's alleged misconduct on 'Being Mortal' set

The film, directed by Aziz Ansari, was shut down in April after a complaint was made against the comedic actor by an unidentified person working on the film. That same month, Murray said he had done "something I thought was funny, and it wasn't taken that way" and it was "a difference of opinion with a woman I'm working with." Now, details of what happened have emerged in a new report, including Murray reportedly making a $100,000 settlement.

Puck reports, via multiple sources, that Murray, 72, was "particularly friendly" with one "much younger" female production staffer. Murray, who felt she had been flirting with him, allegedly straddled her on a bed that was part of the production set. He kissed her on the mouth while they both had on masks, amid COVID protocols. Murray said he was joking, but the "horrified" woman, who was allegedly pinned down under Murray's weight, couldn't move and "interpreted his actions as entirely sexual."

The report noted that the person accusing Murray of inappropriate behavior was not actress Keke Palmer, as some speculated it was.

Ummmmmm.... yeah. Pinning a woman less than half your age down on a bed and dry-humping her and making kissy-face - in front of a bunch of people, no less - isn't even the kinda sh*t that would have flown 20 years ago, let alone Now. That's actually pretty bad and way, way worse than I was expecting. Other people on set apparently thought so, too, because the female staffer wasn't the only person on set to file a complaint about what he did, others did so as well.

Lots of people saying very dumb stuff like, "It's Bill Murray! If he wants to pin you down and dry hump you then you should take it as an honor!" Forget the fact that most 20-something women nowadays didn't grow up with a romantic love of the movie Ghostbusters; ask any woman you know if they'd be perfectly fine with some 70-something guy pinning them down on a bed "as a joke", I think most of them would say that's ground for calling the cops.

Regardless, to his credit Murray reportedly felt really bad about it, especially about all the people who lost their jobs when production was shut down, and he reached out to the woman for mediation. They agreed upon a $100,000 settlement and they both said they were willing and eager to resume production and put the incident behind them, which shows decent character from both of them.

Problem being, apparently, that regardless of the fact that the issue has been resolved to everyone's mutual satisfaction, they still can't resume production and finish the movie because of the circumstances. They're basically afraid that if they get things back on track, the internet will roast them for "letting Bill Murray commit sexual assault on a staffer and get away with it." Which... okay, YES, that's technically what happened, or at the very least some extreme sexual harassment. But they resolved it, they should all be allowed to move on regardless of what Twitter thinks.

My thoughts on the subject are basically, that was a REALLY stupid thing of him to do and it illustrates that he totally lives in his own, out-of-touch world. It's not the first time that he did something 100% out of line and inappropriate and indefensible, and generally people have always handwaved it by saying "Eh... Bill being Bill". And it's good that people are finally snapping out of that trance and being like "Wait, no, the truth is this guy is just a HUGE asshole sometimes and he does it because nobody ever stood up to him"; that's long overdue and I say that as a huge fan of the guy. Most of the "Funny Bill Murray Stories" floating around going back decades are actually not so much "funny" as they are "sh*t you'd legit punch someone in the face for doing if they were not This Specific Guy". This was definitely way offsides of him; it doesn't say if the woman was married or had a boyfriend, but if she did and I was that guy, I wouldn't care which Ghostbuster had my wife/girlfriend pinned down on a bed, I would've knocked his face to the back of his head, Real Talk.

BUT... if everyone involved in the incident says it's been resolved, they should be allowed to go back to work. It's very, very stupid that they can't finish the movie because they're afraid of the Twitter Mob being outraged on behalf of someone else, someone who's already agreed to let it go and move on. If she's willing to be on the set with Bill Murray again - and she's said she is perfectly fine with it - then that should be the end of it. I have no interest in the movie at all, but it's just very stupid not to allow production to resume just because "We don't wanna get yelled at by the internet".

Supposedly some old allegations against Aziz Ansari also have something to do with why production can't resume, but frankly I'm not convinced that anyone anywhere cares about that guy at all.

So anyways, that's what happened and that's where it is.

[oldmanwinters]

Pretty gross. Especially at his age, I would have thought he’d be the type to make an off color verbal joke about something as opposed to going rape-y, but… celebrities? Wonder if he has a history of things like that.

[Coola Yagami]

That is just ****ed up. Like I'm surprised the woman was later ok working with him because at the time she must have been absolutely terrified.

[Leo656]

Geena Davis also reiterated a story about working with him on the movie "Quick Change", he was apparently VERY insistent upon using some sort of massager on her back in spite of her repeated protests. She hated working with him and they've almost never crossed paths since.

So yeah, he's always been a bit of a creep. It's just that standards of decency were more lax back in the day.

Regardless, what he did was indefensible but I like how everyone involved went about handling it like adults and since they want to finish the movie then they should go ahead and do that. If she wants to put it to bed and trusts him enough not to misbehave ever again then that should be the end of it. A thing happened and it was bad but let it be over if that's what they all want.

[DarkFell]

It still sounds like Bill needs to learn how to behave around other people.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by DarkFell

It still sounds like Bill needs to learn how to behave around other people.

If he ain’t learned it yet, I don’t expect it to ever happen.

[Leo656]

If nothing else, the way this specific situation was handled after the fact does show a little bit of growth and maturity on his part.

I mean considering that in the past he's been noted for throwing a woman (his boss, no less) into a lake, whipping a glass ashtray at someone's head, screaming at women until they cry because HE couldn't be bothered to show up for rehearsal and couldn't figure out why they'd changed the scene without telling him... like yeah, this was as bad or worse as any or all of those things BUT at least he handled the fallout better than he would have in the past. In the past he would have just called her a c*nt and buried the entire production in the media while insisting he was blameless.

Instead he publicly apologized immediately, initiated mediation, and actively worked of his own volition to amicably resolve the issue.

Bad behavior but also some displays of personal growth as well. I do not like what he did but I am pleasantly surprised with how everyone involved went about settling it.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Geena Davis also reiterated a story about working with him on the movie "Quick Change", he was apparently VERY insistent upon using some sort of massager on her back in spite of her repeated protests. She hated working with him and they've almost never crossed paths since.

Well... she's turned out to be a special kind of horrible, herself. Far better a massager to the back then the kind of crap she's pushing.

[Leo656]

No means No, buddy.

[ssjup81]

Geez, I just heard about this and that Geena Davis thing. I have to agree with Leo…no means no. Bill Murray needs to learn that.

[Andrew NDB]

The thing with the lady on this new set, yeah, yikes. Touching someone with a back massager on their back after they said no... wrong, but I don't know if it really makes it to the scale. It's not remotely the same thing but, I mean, I've told buddies "absolutely do NOT use that tazer on me!" and then they do it anyway. It's bad, it's wrong, but if you're not scarred for life from it it's hardly worth whining about and certainly not attempting to cancel someone over.

[Leo656]

I mean, I have friends I could maybe "joke around" with like that but I think you have to REALLY know a person before that becomes "okay" even just between the two of you. And again, this was in front of other people who were also visibly aghast, so even hypothetically if the woman was someone he knew and was "comfortable" with rather than a practical stranger, it still would have come off as incredibly inappropriate.

Pretty sure he has some kind of narcissistic personality disorder and is probably bipolar - he seems to have very manic highs and lows and really aggressive mood swings - but I wonder if he has something else, as well. He is aggressively anti-social and acts out in ways that simply aren't a guy just being cheeky. Like I don't think he's a "bad person" but I think with what we know nowadays about mental illness and various personality disorders makes it pretty clear that he has some issues that I wonder as to whether or not they were ever diagnosed or treated. I'd argue not, as back in the day you were just "an oddball" or "an eccentric". Like I could see him being the type who maybe had gone to therapy just to vent - most of them do that at the bare minimum; it's tough being a celebrity - but I don't see him as being the type to purposely take advice or go on medication or anything, which in turn would explain his enormous lifelong drinking problem. Like at some point or other some doctor probably told him "I think you have _______ and here's what I suggest you should do about it," and he was probably like "Yeah, okay, sure," went home and had a cocktail and then found another therapist. That's kinda how I see him being.

[AquaParade]

I just want to say there has always been, what seems to me, an especially strange cult following for Bill Murray.

People just seemed to worship anything he said or did for a long time. Like he was the coolest guy in the world and could do no wrong.

Sorry, I don’t have examples, it’s always just a strange feeling I’ve had about his particular celebrity. Not all that uncommon but seems pronounced with him.

I think he knew what he was doing - joking and simultaneously flirting, thinking it could lead somewhere later. I think his time of doing whatever he wants is just up. Not because of MeToo necessarily, but just because he’s older now and it’s a new generation who doesn’t have that extreme level of reverence for him anymore.

[CyberCubed]

You see, something like this is why I can understand people disliking an actor or them getting "canceled," as opposed to all that dumb twitter drama you see today with people trying to cancel actors based on some dumb online comment they made 2 years ago.

But yeah real life stuff like this is unfortunate. I separate art from the artist, so whatever an actor does in real life doesn't affect the movies I enjoy him in. I can still watch Ghostbusters, Groundhogs day, and whatever other movie I liked with him in just fine.

I mean if everyone really knew what every famous actor does in real life, I'd wager 90% of all actors would be hated. People who cheat on or beat their wives, steal, do "illegal" things, I mean I don't even want to think about it. It's Hollywood after all and when you're rich you can get away with anything.

[Andrew NDB]

It's true. Inappropriate behavior aside, some of the best actors on the planet are largely empty, vacuous vessels. Look at any interview with Robert DeNiro ever. The idea that actors should be looked upon as avatars of virtue or any sort of high intelligence is preposterous.

But who cares? Acting is generally a merit-based field. If someone can act really well, great. Unless it turns out they're a pedophile or something I don't really care.

[Prowler]

Well, that's disappointing. Not that I ever idolised him or any other actor anyway.

I'll still enjoy watching his movies anyway.

[Warhorse]

Hmmm, sounds like he should be in jail. But he seems to be well protected so that will never happen.

[AquaParade]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

It's true. Inappropriate behavior aside, some of the best actors on the planet are largely empty, vacuous vessels. Look at any interview with Robert DeNiro ever. The idea that actors should be looked upon as avatars of virtue or any sort of high intelligence is preposterous.

But who cares? Acting is generally a merit-based field. If someone can act really well, great. Unless it turns out they're a pedophile or something I don't really care.

Yeah.

When you boil it down, they are extremely spoiled humans, so they are way more susceptible to becoming selfish and complacent than the average non-spoiled person.

Like, being famous isn't a recipe for being a good person. It's the opposite. Everyone wiping your ass, Everyone agreeing with you, Everyone focused on you, people acting literally insane when they see you, getting anything you need whenever you need, etc.

So if we can be terrible, then of course they can be too.

But it can be easy to...not forget, but lose sight of that every once in a while.

You know who is a cool celebrity? Adam Sandler. Even if you don't like his movies, you can't hate that guy after seeing how he conducts himself.

[IMJ]

I don't even care about this "scandal".
And honestly, what's with people and their pathetic life-vengeance who have to come back with this stuff 20 something years later?

Like seriously, you harbored for 20 years that some goof@$$ had a dumb moment that ultimately didn't actually harm you or your life, but now you talk about it decades after the fact in your big moment to be a hero for the societal minority with your same weird baggage?

What do these people do when there is ultimately a round up of all of this towards a societal move towards vengeance on the eagerly-vengeant? Witch-hunts and burning at the stake work on all directions.

[Leo656]

Eh, people like not feeling alone in things. For example, I've had a ton of bad experiences in the wrestling business, but I generally just shrug and move forward; there's nobody to complain to anyway. BUT, make no mistake, if someone is going on a locker room rant against So-And-So, I and others who have anything to add will 100% jump in with some variant of "Oh, THAT F*cking guy!" It's just what you do, there's no statute of limitations on it or whatever. People enjoy knowing they're not the only one with a specific grievance.