Filming has been shut down on the Searchlight Pictures film “Being Mortal” after a complaint was made against actor Bill Murray.
Production on the film, which was written and being directed by Aziz Ansari, was suspended after a complaint was made against the actor for “inappropriate behavior,” according to Deadline and The New York Times.
Details about the nature of the complaint or who it involved are unknown as is Murray’s involvement in the project going forward. Ansari was not a part of the complaint, nor was co-star Seth Rogen, Deadline reported.
Searchlight confirmed to HuffPost that the production was suspended, but declined to comment. Ansari did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Emma McIntyre via Getty Images
The Times obtained a copy of a letter Searchlight sent to the movie’s cast and crew Wednesday.
“Late last week, we were made aware of a complaint, and we immediately looked into it … After reviewing the circumstances, it has been decided that production cannot continue at this time,” the letter read.
A source told the Times the incident occurred last Friday and resulted in a shutdown that day. The production spent three days the following week conducting an investigation, and determined that work on the movie would be shut down for the time being.
Murray, who got his start on “Saturday Night Live” in 1977 and went on to star in beloved films like “Caddyshack” and “Ghostbusters,” is a comedy icon. He is beloved for his understated humor, which has been at the forefront of many of director Wes Anderson’s films. He is also widely admired for his down-to-earth interactions with the public, like reading poetry to construction workers or turning up at random birthday parties.
Yet his public persona hasn’t been completely spotless.
In 2021, actor Lucy Liu told the the Los Angeles Times podcast “Asian Enough” that Murray verbally attacked her on the set of 2000’s “Charlie’s Angels” and used “inexcusable and unacceptable” language.
Ansari also received his fair share of public backlash after an unidentified woman told the website Babe.net in 2018 that the comedian pressured her into sexual relations during a date.
Murray was the lead in “Being Mortal,” per the Times. The film, which also co-stars Rogen and Keke Palmer, is based on “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End,” a nonfiction book by Atul Gawande. The book is about Gawande’s experiences as a doctor and examines the relationship between medical professionals and their patients in regards to terminal illness. Ansari is acting in the movie, which is also his directorial debut.
