Bill Murray has addressed the sexual misconduct allegations from 2022 that resulted in his $100,000 settlement with a colleague. Speaking on the podcast The Daily for The New York Times, Murray described kissing the colleague through COVID masks and maintained that he believed the interaction was "still funny," despite the fallout.
He expressed disappointment over Disney's decision to halt production of Being Mortal following the incident, stating he felt unfairly criticised for his actions. Murray recounted the event, explaining it occurred in a room where everyone was masked due to COVID protocols, and he intended it as a lighthearted gesture, something he had done before and found humorous. The actor attributed his actions to a need to make the experiencing working on a project, with mortality-related themes, lighter.
He expressed continued frustration about Disney's HR shelving the film, highlighting the lack of dialogue and a negative experience with arbitration. While acknowledging the situation "still bothers" him, Murray conceded he learnt from the experience, though he considered the cancellation a "great disappointment."
The interview also touched on parallels between the allegations and the misconduct accusations faced by his character in the new film The Friend. Speaking about him undergoing the accusations similar to his character from The Friend, Murray stated that he often thinks about the incident from the sets of Being Mortal.
