Attention to all journalists, Wes Anderson is not going to take the bait.
You can ask him however many questions you’d like about Bill Murray, but he’s sticking with his longtime collaborator, through thick and thin.
Anderson was asked about the on-set misconduct allegations thrown against Murray last year, the incident that occurred during the production of Aziz Ansari’s “Being Mortal.” Here’s Anderson’s response:
My experience with Bill is so extensive. Bill was such a great supporter of me from the very beginning. I don’t want to speak about somebody else’s experience, but he’s really part of my family. You know, he’s my daughter’s godfather. In fact, he actually baptized her. He’s the one who splashed the water.
Murray and Anderson are one of the great actor/director duos of the 21st century; they’ve teamed up on a whopping nine films, including “Rushmore,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox.”
This is what you call integrity. Thank you, Wes, for not succumbing to a mob that was drooling for you to call out one of your best friends and for giving this eloquently passionate response. Many others would have just thrown Murray under the bus for the sake of furthering their careers, but not Anderson. Kudos.
As you might have noticed, Murray is not in “Asteroid City,” but Anderson swears it’s because the actor had to drop out due to a very bad case of COVID.
Anderson added, “Then when Bill got better, he came to Spain. At the end of the movie [where ‘Asteroid’ shot], we finished the movie, and Bill and I got in a car and drove to France. It was a great way to finish but it was the first time I hadn’t had him in a movie in a long time.”
The “inappropriate behavior” from Murray, and subsequent complaint, had to do with a joke the comedian performed on a crew member. It was a bizarre thing for Searchlight to just shut everything down over a failed joked, especially after Murray apologized, but it seems that they wanted nothing to do with this movie after that.
Murray has always been a very brusque and politically incorrect figure, which is why his brand of comedy worked for decades. Was Murray’s behavior that repugnant that there couldn’t just be a cast and crew meeting to settle their differences? It’s so idiotic. Just tell everyone to be a professional, put a lid on the bad blood, put in a happy face and finish goddamn the movie.
Anyway, don’t bother pitying Bill Murray. Last week it was reported that the 72-year-old actor is currently dating “Milkshake” singer Kelis. He’s still partying it up.
Netflix and Skydance Animation have also called it quits. The two sides announced Monday that they're ending the animated film deal struck back in 2023, framing it as a mutual decision.