A new report details the alleged “inappropriate behavior” from Bill Murray that led Disney’s Searchlight Pictures unit to suspend filming on his latest movie, “Being Mortal,” in April.
The actor allegedly straddled and kissed, through face masks, a younger female production staffer, according to Puck national correspondent Eriq Gardner.
The unidentified staffer “interpreted his actions as entirely sexual” and was “horrified” by the incident, Gardner wrote. Via mediation, Murray agreed to settle with the woman for just over $100,000.
A representative for Murray did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment. When news of the film’s shutdown first broke, Murray said: “I did something I thought was funny and it wasn’t taken that way.”
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The film is comedian, actor and director Aziz Ansari’s adaptation of Atul Gawande’s book. It was around halfway shot when filming was shut down. It’s unclear if and when production will resume. Ansari himself has previously faced an allegation of sexual misconduct.
Details of Murray’s on-set behavior came days after actor Geena Davis recalled a negative experience with him during filming for their 1990 movie “Quick Change.” Murray, who also co-directed the movie, reportedly insisted on using a massage device on her when they first met and later screamed at her on set.
“That was bad,” Davis told The Times of London in an interview published Friday about her new memoir “Dying of Politeness.”
“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,” she added. “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.”
In 2021, actor Lucy Liu claimed Murray hurled “inexcusable and unacceptable” insults at her as they filmed “Charlie’s Angels.”