Actor Bill Murray has been under fire again, this time for fresh charges of workplace misbehavior. Several celebs, including Geena Davis, Seth Green, and Rob Schneider, have lately spoken out against the Ghostbusters actor. Green recalled an incident with Murray when the former was nine years old during an appearance on the Good Mythical Morning YouTube program. Green described an event on the set of a Christmas holiday-themed SNL episode hosted by Murray:
“[Murray] saw me sitting on the arm of this chair and made a big deal about my taking his seat.” ‘That is ludicrous,’ I thought. I’m sitting on the couch’s arm. This couch comes in a variety of lengths. Please Fuck off.’ And he said, “That’s my chair.”
Green’s mother requested that her son gets out of Murray’s chair, but the former refused. Murray allegedly held Green “upside down” and tossed him into a garbage can immediately after the verbal altercation:
“He grabbed my ankles and lifted me up. I was turned upside down… He hung me over a garbage can and said, ‘The trash goes in the garbage can.'”
Seth Green continued:
“And I screamed, and I flung my arms, flailed frantically, making full contact with his b*lls.” He threw me in the garbage can, and the trash can collapsed. I was shocked. I hurried away, huddled beneath the dressing room table, and screamed.”
The new allegation comes after production on Bill Murray’s next film Being Mortal was allegedly suspended due to a complaint of “inappropriate conduct” directed towards the actor.
Allegations against Bill Murray
Following Seth Green’s new improper conduct complaints against Bill Murray, several celebrities made similar claims. In her book Dying of Politeness, actress Geena Davis discussed her experience working with Murray on the 1990 film Quick Change. According to The New York Times, Davis said Murray shouted at her for being late as she was waiting for her clothing change:
“That was terrible. The way he acted at the first encounter… I should have walked out or defended myself vehemently, in which case I would not have gotten the role.”
She went on to say:
“If I’d understood how to respond or what to do at the audition, I might have avoided such treatment.” But, you know, I was so nonchalant that I simply didn’t.”
Davis also claimed in her biography that Murray insisted on her using a “massage apparatus” against her wishes:
“I told him no many times, but he wouldn’t listen. To get him to stop attempting to compel me to do it, I would have had to shout at him and create a commotion; the other guys in the room did nothing to stop it.”
Davis expressed guilt for blaming her younger self over an event caused by Murray:
“It’s pointless to regret anything, yet here I was regretting.” And, absolutely, that was not my fault.”
Similarly, actor Rob Schneider stated that when Bill Murray was the host of Saturday Night Live on NBC, he “totally despised” the cast. Schneider came out against Murray on SiriusXM’s The Jim Norton & Sam Roberts Show, saying:
“I won’t name the director, but ‘Bill Murray is coming, and he’s going to modify the language.'” He’s going to alter things for the better, but you never know who you’re going to receive. Which Bill Murray will you get? Bill Murray, the pleasant guy? Or are you going to get the harsh Bill Murray?'”
He also said that, although Murray was polite to fans, he was not good to his co-stars:
“He’s very kind to fans.” He wasn’t very polite to us… When he hosted Saturday Night Live, he despised us. They despised us completely. I mean, raging.”
Schneider also said that Bill Murray despised the late Chris Farley:
“He despised Chris Farley with a vengeance. Looking at him, he seemed to be enraged. I’m not sure why, but I’d like to think it was because Chris felt it was great to be Belushi, who [was] his buddy who died, that he thought it was nice to be so out of control.”
However, the comic explained that Murray’s animosity towards Farley may be due to his own interpretation:
“That’s my interpretation, but I’m not sure.” I don’t think so. “I only believe it 50% of the time.”
Murray, according to Schneider, despised Adam Sandler:
“He simply wasn’t in the mood for it, you know?” And Sandler was really devoted to it, and you could watch the crowd eat him up as soon as he came on.”
Aside from Schneider’s accusations, SNL producer Lorne Michaels recently revealed details regarding a dispute between Bill Murray and Chevy Chase during the show’s season. Michaels said on the Fly on the Wall podcast with Dana Carvey and David Spade:
“They got into an argument. And John [Belushi] sparked it a little. It was partly my fault since I was bringing Chevy back to host after he had departed for a season and a half, but it simply made sense. They got into a fight in front of the page desk, and Chevy was forced to do the monologue.”
Anjelica Huston told Vulture a few years ago that Bill Murray abused her when they were filming Life Aquatic: Evolution.
“On Life Aquatic, he was a jerk to me. The first week I was there, we were all at this tiny hotel, and he asked everyone but me to supper.”
She continued, saying:
“Everyone came down for dinner, a bit dog-faced about my absence, and they were all like, ‘Oh, you know, we don’t really want to leave.'” That was the worst of all.”
Despite their previous relationship, Huston recognized Murray attending her husband’s burial later in life. Bill Murray also made news in 2000 for his notorious on-set brawl with Charlie’s Angels co-star Lucy Liu. Last year, Liu stated to the Los Angeles Times’ Asian Enough podcast that Murray insulted her while working on a sequence that had to be reworked:
“While we were filming the scene, Bill began to hurl obscenities, and I won’t go into details, but it went on and on.” ‘Wow, he appears to be gazing directly at me,’ I thought. I couldn’t believe [the remarks] were directed at me, since what did I have to do with anything significant at the time?”
Liu said that some of Murray’s rhetoric was “inexcusable and disrespectful,” but she doesn’t regret speaking up for herself at the moment.
Twitter responds to new Bill Murray claims
Despite being one of Hollywood’s most recognized performers, Bill Murray has been embroiled in several problems involving improper conduct on set. Misconduct claims against Murray initially surfaced when actresses such as Lucy Liu and Anjelica Huston spoke out against him. Several more celebrities have recently spoken out about similar allegations.
Following the fresh charges, some social media users turned to Twitter to criticize Murray’s behavior:
So, Bill Murray has turned out to be a horrible human being then?
Bummer. 🙁— ⓘ QDark f*ckery detected (@adelpreore) October 15, 2022
I somehow didn’t know that Bill Murray was a horrible human being. https://t.co/ZFNcU5DEck
— Geraldine (@everywhereist) October 15, 2022
While Murray has not replied to the latest charges, he did address the misbehavior allegations leveled against him by the Being Mortal production crew in April. According to the actor, CNBC:
“I did something I thought was hilarious, but it wasn’t received as such.” The corporation, the movie studio, wanted to do the right thing, so they halted production to check everything out and investigate. But for the time being, we’re talking and attempting to make peace.”
As internet emotions continue to stream in, it’s unclear if Bill Murray will address the fresh charges against him in the coming days.
