Bill Murrary is opening up about the incident that led to the 2022 production of “Being Mortal” shut down and nearly ended his career. Speaking in a recent interview with The New York Times, the “SNL” comedian turned actor shared that there aren’t “too many day or weeks” he goes without thinking about what happened and has “tried to make peace” since.
“I ended up being, to my mind, barbecued,” said Murray of the fallout. “But someone that I worked with, that I had had lunch with on various days of the week — it was Covid, we were all wearing masks, and we were all stranded in this one room listening to this crazy scene. I dunno what prompted me to do it. It’s something that I had done to someone else before, and I thought it was funny, and every time it happened, it was funny. I was wearing a mask, and I gave her a kiss, and she was wearing a mask. It wasn’t like I touched her, but it was just, I gave her a kiss through a mask. And she wasn’t a stranger.”
Murray doesn’t blame the individual he kissed “through a mask” who ultimately submitted a complaint, but rather, as he puts it, “the human rights or ‘H & R’ of the Disney corporation.” Disney owns Searchlight Pictures, which was producing the film and since the incident triggered protocols in their contracts, the issue was put into arbitration, a fact Murray bemoans.
“It turned out there were pre-existing conditions and all this kind of stuff. I’m like, what? How was anyone supposed to know anything like that? There was no conversation, there was nothing,” Murray said. “There was no peacemaking, nothing. It went to this lunatic arbitration, which, if anyone ever suggests you go to arbitration: Don’t do it. Never ever do it. Because you think it’s justice, and it isn’t.”
When this news first broke, it was reported that Murray thought the person he kissed had been flirting with him, but now recognizes that not to be the case. Even so, he wishes what he views as a “stupid” exchange wasn’t blown out of proportions by the powers-that-be.
“It was a great disappointment, because I thought I knew someone, and I did not,” he said. “I certainly thought it was light. I thought it was funny. To me it’s still funny, the idea that you could give someone a kiss with a mask on. It’s still stupid. It’s all it was.”
Murray blames his actions on a sense of playfulness he tries to bring to set, particularly when it came to “Being Mortal.” The film was set to be an adaptation of the non-fiction book by Atul Gawande, which centers around death and end-of-life care. To balance the heaviness of this subject matter, Murray said he tried to create a light space when shooting wasn’t happening.
“When you’re dealing with this painful material all day long, part of what my job has always been is to keep the mood light,” Murray told The NYT. “The job is not easy, and when you’re doing a story about pain and misery, everyone can get pained and miserable, and you don’t want that. You want to say: ‘Hey, we’re still who we are.’”
“Being Mortal” was set to be the feature directorial debut of Aziz Ansari, who was also set to star alongside Murray, Seth Rogen, and Keke Palmer. The film remains shut down since 2022, with Ansari opting to make his debut with a self-written comedy called “Good Fortune” that features Ansari, Rogen, and Palmer, as well as Keanu Reeves.
Since the incident on “Being Mortal,” Murray has co-starred in “The Friend” with Naomi Watts. The two were recently seen on an episode of Andy Cohen’s “What What Happens Live” in which Murray, once again, forcibly gave his co-star what appears to be an unsolicited kiss. Watch below.
