Bill Murray candidly reflects on allegations of 2022, when he calmed down with a female colleague for $100,000 after he kissed her through a co-operating face mask. He defended his actions as “still funny” and showed that it was blown up disproportionately when he was “barbecued” for an incident that led to the Disney project being “fatal.”
“I wasn’t touching her. But I put her through a mask, another mask, kissing another person, and she wasn’t a stranger,” he said.
“I thought I knew someone, but it wasn’t,” he added. “And I thought it was, I certainly thought it was light, and I thought it was funny. And it’s still funny to me.”
In October 2022, Murray was accused of Aziz Ansari’s “fatal” behavior, “fatal” including kissing the face and body while wearing a mask. Several outlets at the time said Murray was straddled young female assistants, who reported that she was “terrifying” and that it was a sexual advance, while claiming it was a joking move.
“The Daily” opened the topic later in the hour-long discussion as Walter, the Walter who plays in Murray’s character Naomi Watts’ new indie drama “The Friend,” is also accused of inappropriate misconduct. The interview assumed that “certainly these similarities occurred” to the actor during filming.
“I don’t go for days or weeks without thinking about what happened with being human,” replied Murray.
“I thought I was trying to make peace. I ended up being a barbecue in my mind,” he said before breaking the interpretation of the incident. “But the people I worked with know that I had lunch on various days of the week, etc. She was wearing a mask.”
The 74-year-old actor added that Disney decided to shelve the production of Searchlight after his actions were raised by the corporate HR. He said the action was intended simply to brighten up the atmosphere of production.
“Whatever the Disney Corporation’s human rights or what’s called HR, the film is probably a little more intense than some countries, so it’s still bothering me,” Murray said. “But I know, it was like existing conditions and this kind of thing. What was I like? Why was someone supposed to know that, there was no conversation, there was no conversation, there was nothing, there was no oath of peace, because you don’t think it’s justice.”
Still, when Murray felt that he had learned something from the experience, “You know, you know that you can teach old dogs new tricks. But I just thought it was a disappointment. It was a huge disappointment.”
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