Credit: The Long Kiss Goodnight
Bill Murray has long since lived with the reputation that he’s a funny guy but also that he is difficult to work with. According to his Wikipedia page, “I remember a friend said to me a while back, ‘You have a reputation,’ and I said ‘What?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, you have a reputation of being difficult to work with.’ But I only got that reputation from people I didn’t like working with, or people who didn’t know how to work, or what work is,” he said of the situation. However, it’s also been said that his frequent co-star, Dan Akroyd, calls him the Murricane due to his explosive mood swings.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Bill Murray now has actresses as famous as Geena Davis speaking out about his behavior. As it turns out, Bill Murray’s bad behavior goes far behind just having bad mood swings and being difficult to work with. According to the legendary Geena Davis, he harassed her. And she’s not the only actress speaking out against Murray.
Geena Davis’ Accusations
Geena Davis is the author of a new book. It’s called Dying of Politeness. Much like the title of her new book indicates, it’s about all the times in her career when she didn’t speak up or didn’t do what she thought she should do for fear of being out of line.
In the book, Geena Davis has much to say about Bill Murray. They worked together in 1990 on Quick Change. The first time she met Murray, she said he offered her a massage with a device he called the Thumper. She declined.
“I said no multiple times, but he wouldn’t relent. 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 realize with profound sadness that I didn’t yet have the ability withstand this onslaught – or to simply walk out,” she writes in the book. She also goes on to say that he yelled at her in front of multiple people and that he put the thumper device on her back for a few seconds before finally stopping.
Credit: @lucyliu
Lucy Liu’s Complaints
In 2021, actress Lucy Liu opened up about an altercation with the actor when they were working on Charlie’s Angels in 2000. Long story short, there was a scene that required a lot of rework, and some of the cast and crew set aside a weekend to work on it. Bill Murray was already busy with a family obligation that prevented him from attending the rework. However, when Murray returned to the set to rehearse the newly re-done scene, he began throwing insults at her.
“I stood up for myself, and I don’t regret it. 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,” she said of the incident in which she accuses him of insulting her, being condescending, and using ‘inexcusable’ and ‘unacceptable’ language while talking to her.
The Being Mortal Controversy
In spring 2022, Murray was working on an Aziz Ansari production called “Being Mortal” when the project was abruptly suspended after Searchlight productions received a complaint. A letter was sent to the cast and crew informing them the project was on hold due to the suspension after the complaint was investigated. It also went on to state that the complaint has nothing to do with Ansari.
Credit: Rodney Dangerfield/YouTube
The actual details of the incident did not come to light until October 11, 2022, when Page Six broke the news. The complaint that was filed against the movie in April was against Murray. A staffer – a much younger staffer – accused the 72-year-old actor of kissing her body and straddling her.
The complaint also details that she could not get up and get away from him because of his body weight. Witnesses also were present and said that they did see the older star trying to kiss the young woman. He defended himself by saying that his actions were ‘playful,’ but the young staffer did not find them at all playful or amusing. In fact, Murray called it a difference of opinion.
“I had a difference of opinion with a woman I’m working with. I did something I thought was funny, and it wasn’t taken that way. I’ve been doing not much else but thinking about it for the last week or two…you know, the world’s different than it was when I was a little kid,” he said of the matter. Page Six reports the female staffer is ‘horrified’ by his actions. It seems Lucy Liu and Geena Davis aren’t the only females who don’t care to work with Murray.
Follow Us
