Bill Murray was apparently the subject of complaint that halted Aziz Ansari's movie
A complaint was reportedly filed accusing Murray of "inappropriate" behavior on Being Mortal's set
Earlier today, we reported that Aziz Ansari’s upcoming film, Being Mortal, had been shut down due to an undescribed “complaint” that was being investigated on the film’s set. Now, some more details about the complaint have been revealed, namely, who it was lodged against: The film’s star, Bill Murray.
This is per Deadline, which reports that that’s still pretty much all we know about the complaint against Murray, beyond it being described as being related to “inappropriate behavior.”
Details about Being Mortal have been fairly loose since it was first announced; the film is (was?) a fictionalized portrayal of Atul Gawande’s non-fiction book of the same name, partly a memoir about his life as a doctor, and partly a meditation on our medical and cultural approaches to the end of life. One thing has been certain, though: Murray has been attached to the film since it was first announced, suggesting that whatever role he was going to play would be central to the film. (Hence, presumably, the definitive statement, released by the production, that it has “been decided that production cannot continue at this time.”)
Although often semi-obscured by his mercurial public presence and critically heralded performances, Murray has had a long reputation for difficult, sometimes abusive behavior in the industry—as well as accusations of domestic abuse and violence from his ex-wife, Jennifer Butler, that came to light after she filed for divorce from him in 2008.
Searchlight Pictures has described the investigation as “ongoing,” and declined to comment. Being Mortal is Ansari’s directorial feature debut. Production on the film shut down on April 18.
News about the complaint comes just a week after it was reported that veteran actor Frank Langella had been removed from Netflix’s The Fall Of The House Of Usher, after an investigation found that he’d behaved inappropriately on the set.