Wes Anderson won’t address accusations against Bill Murray, says he’s “part of my family”
Anderson also says that Murray had to drop out of Asteroid City because he got COVID, not for any other reason
Aux News Wes Anderson
Bill Murray is not in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, which is rare in Anderson’s filmography—he has, at least to some extent, appeared in almost all of the director’s movies—but the reason for that has nothing to do with the controversies that have followed Murray for the past year or so. Speaking with IndieWire, Anderson said that it was more or less a timing thing that prevented Murray from appearing in the new movie. He was originally supposed to play the character that Steve Carell plays in the movie, but Murray got COVID right before shooting and had to back out, but Anderson says they reconnected after the shoot and they drove from Spain (where he filmed Asteroid City) to France together.
As for the allegations against Murray, production on the film Being Mortal—which was supposed to be Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut—was shut down after someone filmed a complaint about Murray’s inappropriate behavior (which he later suggested was his attempt to do something “funny” that “wasn’t taken that way”), and that prompted Lucy Liu to eventually come forward with her own story about “unacceptable” comments Murray had made about her on the set of Charlie’s Angels. That then prompted Geena Davis to speak out about her own issues with Murray on the set of Quick Change in the ‘90s.
Anderson, in that IndieWire chat, declined to really address any of that, simply saying that he doesn’t “want to speak about somebody else’s experience.” But he did stand by Murray, saying that he’s “really part of my family” and was the one who “splashed the water” when his daughter was baptized. He also noted that his experience working with Murray is “so extensive” and that he’s been “a great supporter of me from the very beginning,” so take all of that however you choose to.
125 Comments
Anderson is a consummate visual stylist, but man, sometimes he really blows.
What a brave take about a situation you have absolutely zero insight into.
Lol, I never tire of seeing how mad you get on here
That’s because you’re a loser with no life whose only source of sustenance is positioning yourself as morally superior to people you don’t know online.
Said the raven to the crow.
Nah.
Perfect.
Actually it’s because you always project like this when you troll.
What is it with retards like you and constantly talking about how everyone else is “projecting”? It’s like when a 1st grader learns a new swear word. You’d be embarrassed if you were a legitimate person, which you aren’t.
lmao. That made me laugh out loud, ty.
FART
Would you immediately denounce a friend of yours if a few people accuse him of being, what, inappropriate? That sounds an awful lot like 1984 or Cold War-era Eastern Europe to me.
Cine would because he ‘s a gutless, clout chasing, piece of shit with no loyalty.
OH, SNAP!
FART
Just outta curiosity, have you actually read 1984? It’s just… not relevant to what you’re commenting on. Are you trying to point out groupthink? What does that have to do to with a person denouncing their friend for shitty behavior?
“That sounds an awful lot like 1984 or Cold War-era Eastern Europe to me.If that is true, you may want to consider filing suit against whomeer was responsible for your education.
Whomeer?
“whomeer”You first
On the other hand, if your co-worker was harassing you or others and your boss was like “well we’re friends so I don’t really care”, would you feel comfortable or safe working in that environment?
Meh, you don’t have to “denounce” your friend, but you could be like “yeah I love the guy but he can get a little up his own ass sometimes.” That said, I don’t really care about what Wes Anderson has to say about Bill Murray and I think his answer was fine. He didn’t say the women were lying, just that he couldn’t speak about their experience (which is true), so whatever. It’s a non-story and he shouldn’t have been asked, though I think it was fair to ask if he was deleted from the film because of the allegations, just not fair to ask about the state of the relationship generally, if that was asked, which maybe it wasn’t,
Murray beat and threatened to murder his wife
It was called Sippenhaft (collective punishment) by the Nazis when people were accused through relation and didn’t denounce their family members or friends. Orwell’s “thought police” in 1984 used that and Stalin’s public punishments.
Now it’s coming from people who think they’re the opposite of the Rethuglicans. Just as judgmental and feeling they’re morally superior. Unable to refer to 1984 in a context to contradict you but unintentionally funny: “you may want to consider filing suit against whomeer [sic!] was responsible for your education” LOL.
Agreed.
I’m not surprised. I remember reading the stories about how when Gene Hackman was bullying Anderson on the set of Tenenbaums, Murray took it upon himself to go to set to keep watch because he knew Hackman wasn’t going to pull shit in front of him. Which I respect. But given everything else that’s come out about Bill, yeah… it obviously doesn’t make up for a single bit of that shit. But just saying, I get why Wes has some loyalty to the dude when it comes to how he speaks about him publicly.
That certainly explains a lot. Murray has a reputation for being terrible to work with and I’ve always wondered how someone who so often ruins professional relationships is basically Anderson’s lucky charm.
One experience not equal of another. Murray can be a dick to people (He traded punch with Chevy Chase, another dickish person, mind you), but then when he click with other people, as in this case, Wes Anderson. He can be as charms as your lovely grandpa.
You Know I always wondered in their prime who would win in a fist fight Hackman or Murray. They looked very similar to me.
Here’s my Wikipedia assessment…Hackman was born into the Great Depression, family moved around, father left at 13, and joined the Marines at 16 (internet says he was a radio operator and doesn’t look like he saw combat but I’m assuming he went through basic). Murray had at least four Irish Catholic brothers, grew up in the suburbs, went to private school, and worked as a caddie. Going with Hackman.
I would tend to agree with that, based on what Dennis Farina said after filming Get Shorty. He talked about a scene where he had to go in and rough up Gene Hackman’s character, but he was super intimidated because Hackman was a big dude even then, and just imposing in terms of gruffness, no-nonsense stuff, etc in addition. Farina was in the Army and then a Chicago detective and never struck me as a dude who would be that scared of most people, so the fact he was intimidated by Hackman says a lot to me.
It says also a lot that we never heard of actresses who complained about Gene Hackman. Since we’ve heard stories about Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman, I think Anderson probably deserved Hackman’s treatment. Intimidating isn’t exactly abusing. And Farina didn’t say more than what you refer to.
Wow you’re just fully comfortable jumping into fantasyland based on no info, huh?
Wow you’re just fully comfortable jumping into fantasyland based on no info, huh?
Yea because people who aren’t assholes to one group of people are always nice to others unless they have it coming…
Yea because people who aren’t assholes to one group of people are always nice to others unless they have it coming…
Yea because people who aren’t assholes to one group of people are always nice to others unless they have it coming…
There are other possibilities before jumping to victim blaming.
Or Hackman may not have seen Anderson as “manly” enough. There are other possibilities before jumping to victim blaming.
Or Hackman may not have seen Anderson as “manly” enough.
Wow you’re just fully comfortable jumping into fantasyland based on no info, huh?
“I think Anderson probably deserved Hackman’s treatment.”Sure, dude.
Minimum Maus / AKA / 525221111437866211651Next time you answer someone use less generic self-righteous copy-and-paste comments. It’s not worth my time to answer your basic ChatGPT Overton window judgements with original thoughts.
That’s why I used your comments to reply to each other. Don’t pretend to know anything more than I do.
Thanks for the reminder to go watch Get Shorty again. It’s one of my favorites. Great fucking film.
One of the best scenes in one of the best movies. Farina and Hackman were absolute gold in Get Shorty!
It was Hackman who also threatened the Academy if they didn’t snub Farina after his death. ALLEGEDLY>
We did watch that cold-hearted bastard gun down Leonardo DiCaprio in the middle of the street and that was his own son.
God, I love that movie. Never understood why it was mostly ignored for the longest time.
What movie was that?
Yeah, but he got it first from William Munny, out of Missouri. He claimed he didn’t deserve it, that he was building a house, but I don’t buy it.
Hackman would be better at giving the beating, and Murray would be better at taking the beating. Going through basic training will teach you to throw a punch, but having 4 irish catholic brothers will teach you to take a punch. Anyone’s game.
Here’s my Wikipedia assessment…Hackman was born into the Great Depression, family moved around, father left at 13, and joined
the Marines at 16 (internet says he was a radio operator and doesn’t
look like he saw combat but I’m assuming he went through basic). Murray had at least four Irish Catholic brothers, grew up in the suburbs, went to private school, and worked as a caddie. Going with Hackman. Hmm…was the “private school” an all boys Catholic high school? Because if it is, along with having 4 brothers, I’d put my money on Murray on that one. If you don’t learn to fight in that scenario, you at least learn how to take a punch.
You know I never Knew Anderson was a religious man. Also Paul WS anderson > Wes anderson there I said it. Wes could never make a movie as entrancing as Event Horizon.
If someone in my family sexually harassed someone, it’d be even more reason for me to take them to task. What a strange and profoundly stupid response.
Nothing happened and no one said anything. Film at 11.
And yet Geena Davis is compelled to speak out.
What a profile in courage, possibly set to a twee record collection
Not nearly as courageous as a bunch of anonymous dorks on the internet slinging mud at people they’ve never met, but it’ll have to do
Yeah why won’t he comment on something that there are no actual details available about.Not a single person here knows what actually happened, but everyone has really strong takes on it. Really brave, intelligent stuff.
FaRt
The world needs more people like Wes Anderson. No reasonable person anywhere gives a shit about this.
Bill Murray *allegedly* made a bad joke in front of someone and people are acting like he’s some kind of persona non grata.
He also beat his wife and threatened to murder her
And you know that for a fact to be true?
All we really know is that you are an unrelenting shitbag.
Cool. You and your opinion don’t matter.
FARt
FART
So did Jackie Gleason, and America thought it was the height of comedy.
FART
I completely believe Robert Downey Jr. when he says that Mel Gibson helped him during the lowest points of his life and helped him get sober.I also believe that Mel Gibson was, for a time, utterly charming and likable and was a commanding screen presence.I also believe that Mel Gibson is a toxic, racist, misogynistic piece of shit and I firmly hope that he disappears from the world forever.People can be more than one thing.I believe Bill Murray can be funny and endearing and weird and charming and talented and loyal, while at the same time, I also believe Murray can be a toxic dipshit egotistical bully.
Exactly. One shouldn’t necessarily expect everyone else to see someone the same way.
Oh I can go further then believe Mel Gibson is shit. Not just the public statements and the arrest, but his dad is literally the fucking worst. Bastard was saying Hitler was good I love the holocaust and stuff like that on the radio and only died a couple years back. I fully get your point though.
I suspect most people would not want to be blamed for what their parents said. Mel might have a perfectly nice sibling for all I know.
I believe the children are our future.
well, I believe Love is the Answer.
I like consenting female adults clad in Abercrombie & Fitch.
Exactly. I can completely believe every story I’ve heard about Murray. But unless he’s pulled any of that shit on a Wes Anderson set then I don’t really think there should be any pressure not to use him. And by this point I don’t imagine that the average Wes Anderson fan is going to be put off by a Bill Murray cameo.
While what you said is true, if someone is nice to me and punches kids, I won’t treat him as The guy who was nice to me because I, personally, haven’t been punched by them as a kid.I am not saying that anyone is punching kids, I am just using an extreme example to demonstrate that, no, just because someone is nice to you doesn’t cancel out the fact that they are harmful nor should it excuse their behaviour in your eyes – they should be ostracised until they address their behaviour at least.And let me be clear, I find Bill Murray incredibly endearing, but if I believe that someone’s abusive against anyone, I am not going to be nice to them irrespective of whether they have been nice to me. I don’t exist in a vacum (nor in a mop:P).
Yes. I also think the media and pundit-sphere can report on an individual’s acts of aggression or failings or crimes without expecting every one of their friends and family to disavow them completely.
This is all true. It’s well and good for Anderson to stay friends with Murray and invite hime to whatever baptisms he might be having. The tricky part comes in when Anderson hires Murray to work with other people. It’s seems clear that Murray bad behavior is directed towards the women he works with. It’d be nice if Anderson could speak more to how he prevents bullying and harassment on set. He’s speaking solely as a friend, but he’s also an employer.
I’ve said it before, but Bill Murray seems like the kind of guy who is absolutely delightful… as long as everything is going his way.
Murray’s unimpeachable quality as a friend and utter shittiness as a co-worker have been the stuff of industry legend for 40 years at this point. I 100% believe just about EVERYTHING people say about him equally – if you told me “Bill Murray made an unbelievably racist, sexual joke at my high school commencement where he was a guest speaker” I would believe it, and if you told me “Bill Murray drove an entire dinner party to the hospital when the grandpa had a heart attack and only his kids were allowed to take the ambulance” I would believe that too.
what a superb post! Also, didn’t Murray help ease the tension on Meet The Tenenbaums by trying to protect wes anderson from Gene Hackman, who apparently was a nightmare on set
The modern black/white, good/bad, Javert/Valjean binary on human morality breaks apart when you talk to an actual human being about their experience.
I love Wes Anderson but this isn’t shocking. He’s also made nice comments about Roman Polanski. It doesn’t help his laid back nice guy image.
You’ll never be a woman
You’re not a woman and no matter what you do or so you’ll never be a woman. Ever.
Things change. OJ Simpson used to have a nice guy image.
People struggle with perspective when it comes to their close friends, more at 11:00.
Update: people know their close friends with greater depth, complexity and compassion than a bunch of random strangers on the internet, more at 11:15.
Local high school sports that nobody cares about. More at 11:22.
C’mon, the girls’ volleyball team works really hard.
People struggle with perspective when it comes to strangers they only know through online rumors.
Personally, I’m inclined to not judge people too harshly for not immediately denouncing people who are clearly close friends in their personal lives merely because the internet hordes are baying for them to do so. Leaving aside the fact that it’s easy to forget that we only really know these people through AV Club newsfeeds and the like, I think we all have people in our lives who we’d struggle to automatically reject and publicly denounce if it turned out they were accused of some kind of wrongdoing. And honestly, I think anyone who says otherwise is probably either lying for credibility points on the internet or has pretty much no close connections with other human beings.
Part of the problem is that 1) it’s extremely easy to say “Well, X has never been that way with me” and 2) the kind of person who HAS been “that way” with others is often “that way” with others because those others are not part of their in-group. This is what so many people have said about Fillion and Tudyk standing by Whedon and the lack of statements from Hannigan or Acker. Whedon was good at being a horrid dick to very specific people and a generous creative partner otherwise. So sure, Murray probably has been really great to Anderson. And sure, it’s reasonable for Anderson to make the statement he made. That doesn’t change the bullshit Murray has pulled on those other folks. And by many, many accounts Murray is mercurial as hell. Maybe Anderson has just never encountered Bill on a bad day.
To be clear, I’m not saying Bill Murray isn’t an absolute piece of shit a lot of the time, or even most of the time. Just that I don’t really get down with the secondary-level “denounce this person immediately!” vibe that tends to arise whenever someone’s accused of something bad — or even, in this case, turns out to be more or less just an absolute dick — where everyone begins yelling at his or (very occasionally) her friends for not immediately throwing him to the wolves.
I understand that. And generally agree. That said, I also think it’s entirely understandable for someone to believe that there should be *consequences* for malfeasance. Including a certain degree of professional and/or personal distancing. And let’s not be so ridiculous in our metaphors. “throwing him to the wolves”? What wolves?
Dipshits like you is who I think he’s referring to. People who don’t care about actual truth, just moral sanctimony.
Twitter wolves, I guess. Simultaneously the most vicious pack of creatures in the entire world and an irrelevant group of terminally online people that have no effect on the real world. I’m not sure how that works though.
I’m also not saying there shouldn’t be consequences for malfeasance, nor that personal distancing shouldn’t one of them. I’m just saying that I personally try not to judge people for finding it harder to personally distance themselves from a close friend who is being accused of malfeasance since, contrary to how it might seem on the outside of the situation / friendship, that’s often a lot harder to do on the inside.Also, “throw [someone] to the wolves” just means “leave someone to be roughly treated or criticized without trying to help or defend them”, I clearly don’t think there are, like, literal wolves or anything. Bill Murray is the subject of a lot of criticism at the moment. It’s a perfectly valid metaphor for the situation and, frankly, I think you’re being a little unnecessarily pedantic on that one.
I had someone unfamiliar with the phrase “throwing them under the bus” take it literally. In person. Their confused look, for a split second wondering if I was casually proposing a murder, was hilarious.
To edit slightly, I will concede I’ve maybe been a little on the glib side in this conversation, but, well, we’re just shooting the shit on the AV Club, it’s not like this is a formal presidential debate or anything. I think it’s still a perfectly valid metaphor for the situation.
WE THE INTERNET DEMAND BLOOD!!!
We must denounce Wes Anderson for not denouncing Bill Murray.
And denounce Owen Wilson for not denouncing Wes Anderson for not denouncing Bill Murray
And denounce Tom Hiddleston for not denouncing Owen Wilson for not denouncing Wes Anderson for not denouncing Bill Murray.
And eventually Kevin Bacon will be implicated as well. It’s a resonance cascade of cancellation!
Well, except that Anderson didn’t say any of that.In fact, we’re commenting on an article discussing a stub about a not-yet-published interview. It’s really hard to talk about what Anderson really did say given what we have so far.
Part of the problem is that 1) it’s extremely easy to say “Well, X has never been that way with me” and 2) the kind of person who HAS been “that way” with others is often “that way” with others because those others are not part of their in-group.Right, but if you’re part of the “in-group”, and have only had personal experience of a person that way, then that’s all you can speak to. And it’s not like these “never been that way with me” sort of statements are being made unprompted, at least not usually. Journalists/gossip writers are seeking out anyone associated with [insert latest celebrity offender] and demanding a reaction.
Fucking thank you
When it comes to the internet and discussing social skills, I’ve found there are a lot more theorists than practitioners:“Oh, yeah, yeah, if one of MY friends was accused of doing heinous, I’d denounce and ditch his ass! Instantly!”“Do you have any friends?”“I- er- uh- GO FUCK YOURSELF.”
TOO LATE!
Quick find his twitter and put him on blast.
I’d argue there’s a bit of a difference when the friend is also an employee of yours and is potentially going to have working relationships with other employees of yours in the future. If I’m an actress on a Wes Anderson set now, am I going to feel comfortable going to him if anything goes wrong, or is he going to defend his friends and say that since nothing bad happened to him, nothing bad must have happened?
One of the things about Bill Murray, is that this stuff has been known for years. It’s not like everything is brand new. He’s a known dick, that historically crosses lines. Sure, you can say,” that’s the kind of guy I’m okay with, as long its not directed at me” but people will call you on it. Its not like Mel Gibson, who by all accounts was a closeted racist. In that case, you suddenly get a bunch of new information one day that changes how you percieve a person. Its more like a Steven Seagal, where you know he’s a dick, you just chose to hang with him anyway.
Grab a pitchfork and join or die, Wes
Jeez, Aziz Ansari can’t catch a break can he? Gets cancelled personally (as it turns out, wrongly) leading to the kneejerk cancellation of his (very good) Netflix series, then the production of his directorial debut breaks down… because of another cancellation outside of his control.
Can we at least agree that Aziz Ansari is the real victim here??
Poor guy’s never gonna get a shot to direct again.
Looks like it’s time to Cancel Wes!
While we’re at it, can we do Borland as well?
Maybe he could have been nicer about it, but he’s fucking dead-on right about Lucy Liu. She couldn’t act like she was falling if you pushed her off a roof.
“Understanding is a three edged sword. Your side, my side, and the Truth.” – J. Michael Straczynski
Look into anyone’s personal & professional lives and you’ll quickly find jokes that fell flat, words that were misunderstood, and actions that have been misinterpreted. The older I get, the more I see the wisdom in Joe’s words… which encourages me to follow Christ’s philosophy of “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” – The Bible, John 8:7 After all, Everybody’s Human – a remark some people find insulting (pp of my fave quotes from Star Trek 6)
The Geena Davis one is disturbing, but it’s well known that Murray can be a bit of an egotistical ass to people he doesn’t get along with, so the Lucy Liu accusations are hardly surprising and dont seem like much of anything. And the lap dance I could see how he thought it would be funny, but also how it would’ve easily made the actress uncomfortable. Not criminal, just a really bad idea
No mention of the fact that murray also punched his wife in the face and told her “you’re lucky I don’t kill you”?
I think it’s weird that someone who is friends with and has had a long relationship with someone is expected to immediately distance themselves from that someone for bad behavior.
Many judging this man for not denouncing a friend…Anyone who hasn’t done something denounceable is either lacking self awareness or lying – so be prepared to denounce everyone in your life…right after denouncing yourself. Be sure to publicly expose everything you’ve ever done that you’re not proud of first though.I’ll go after everyone else lol
I think the general commentariat reaction to this is pretty right on, I will just add: None of these famous people are my friends and none of them are your friends. I don’t know them, except for a few, and the ones I know I don’t know everything about…I also don’t know absolutely everything about anybody in my life. Would I be surprised if this person I think is nice is a kid murderer, sure! Would it make me question how I judge and perceive people? Depends on how well I thought I knew them and if they like baptized my child. I don’t assume movie stars are great people, this is a weird parasocial relationship people have with famous people. So am I going to imagine Amy Acker is a bad person because she didn’t crucify Joss Whedon? I could or I couldn’t but the real question is who fucking cares? If that imagined relationship is what it takes for me to buy their product (Rock Hudson is a man’s man! Joan Crawford is a great mother!) then they should work on keeping up the facade..and if they don’t and I throw them over, who cares? I am not losing out on a universe because I watch some other asshole instead of Louis CK, or if I do or don’t need Bill Murray to be the greatest guy in the world. Maybe Lucy Liu is a dick and he really hated her, maybe she’s the greatest and he was a big dick to her…who cares? In other words, make up your own mind about if these things matter to you or don’t, you don’t know these people so who cares?
“He was originally supposed to play the character that Steve Carell plays in the movie,”
Huh. I just assumed the Tom Hanks character was originally Murray’s.
I straight up mistook him for Murray in the advertisements. Saw Anderson’s 70s Florida vacation color palette and an old white guy, put two and two together…and came up slightly off from four somehow.
Everyone knows Bill Murray is an asshole, but what this director presupposes is: maybe he isn’t?
Good on Wes.