Alright, folks—gather around, because this is one of those stories where Hollywood charm meets a hard, uncomfortable truth. Bill Murray, the quirky, beloved icon of American comedy, is once again under the microscope. And this time, he’s not cracking jokes in “Ghostbusters” or playing the irritable cynic in ‘Groundhog Day”. He’s confronting something much darker: the sexual misconduct allegation that shuttered the production of “Being Mortal” in 2022—and left a dent in his once-impenetrable public persona.
In a recent “New York Times” interview, Murray didn’t dodge the topic. In fact, he said he still thinks about it “every few days.” That’s no surprise—”Being Mortal” wasn’t just another role. It was supposed to be Aziz Ansari’s big directorial debut. The buzz was electric. The project was high-profile. Then, suddenly, it all collapsed after Murray was accused by a female crew member of inappropriate behavior on set.
Here’s what he says happened: during a pandemic-era shoot—everyone masked, tensions high—he kissed a crew member through their masks. “It wasn’t like I touched her,” Murray said, downplaying the moment as something he thought was funny, something he’d done before. But the woman didn’t see it that way. Neither did Disney’s HR department, or the arbitration panel that later investigated.
Murray later paid a “$100,000 settlement” to the woman, a fact that makes his current insistence that justice was not served all the more complicated. He called the process “lunatic arbitration,” blasted Disney’s HR team as “more strident than some countries,” and insisted there was no dialogue, no mediation—just judgment.
And now, just as the buzz for his new film “The Friend” ramps up, the past is catching up again. While appearing on “Watch What Happens Live”, Murray spontaneously kissed co-star Naomi Watts during a segment about best on-screen kisses. It was awkward. It was unexpected. And it sent fans into an uproar online.
Watts hasn’t commented publicly, but the internet sure did—and they weren’t laughing. Many saw it as yet another example of the same boundary-blurring behavior that landed Murray in hot water to begin with.
The “Being Mortal” incident also opened the floodgates to more allegations, some old, some newer. Richard Dreyfuss once claimed Murray threw an ashtray at him. Murray says it was the ceiling, not Dreyfuss. Geena Davis wrote in her memoir that he screamed at her in front of 300 people. Murray’s response? “Outrageous.”
Now, to be fair, Murray says if people really dug through his entire career—“hundreds of thousands” of interactions—maybe they’d come up with a dozen questionable moments. Maybe more. But in today’s climate, a dozen is more than enough to flip a legacy on its head.
The core question isn’t whether Murray sees himself as a villain—it’s whether the industry and the audience still see him as a lovable rogue or something more troubling. Because when the jokes stop, and the lights dim, what’s left is an aging star trying to navigate a new era where the old rules—especially the unspoken ones—don’t apply anymore.
And if you ask Bill Murray? He still thinks what happened on “Being Mortal” was “funny.” That alone might be the biggest punchline—just not the kind anyone’s laughing at.
