The directional debut of Aziz Ansari, Being Mortal has been paused for three straight days owing to an investigation into a complaint filed in the previous week.
As per the reports, Bill Murray is the complainant who seems to be behind this restriction in filming Being Mortal, as he has been accused of inappropriate behavior on the film sets.
Who is Bill Murray
Bill Murray is a 71-year actor which started his career by appearing in the film Meatballs in 1979. He is recognized for his starring in the films like Groundhog Day, Ghost Busters, Lost in Translation and Jungle book.
This competent actor has won the Kennedy Center’s Mask Twain Prize for humour in 2016 alongside a nomination for the Oscars.
Details of the Investigation
Being Mortal, the film starring Murray, Ansair and Seth Rogen paused its production and it become public when the crew was informed by the means of a letter that filming was suspended due to a complaint. However, on Thursday the film was terminated indefinitely.
'Inappropriate behavior' complaint against Bill Murray shuts down film shoot, investigation underway: Filming on Aziz Ansari's first feature, "Being Mortal," was suspended over a reported complaint against co-star Bill Murray. pic.twitter.com/IqrrXbDHCp
— Eldar Polak (@eldarpolak) April 22, 2022
The letter quoted “Late last week, we were made aware of a complaint, and we immediately looked into it.” Although it was later revealed that the production halt wasn’t due to COVID-19 reasons or anything related to Aziz Ansari or Seth Rogen. The note also said, “Our hope is to resume production and [we] are working with Aziz and [producer Youree Henley] to figure out that timing.”
We are still unsure about what the complaint is about and the other intricacies of the investigation but the letter did throw some light on the current situation -“After reviewing the circumstances, it has been decided that production cannot continue at this time,” indicating towards a major controversy which leads to such a decision by Searchlight pictures.
The Controversial Comedian
Though this accomplished actor is one of the celebrated ones he has a history of making enemies on the sets of the films and shows he works on.
Owing to past controversies of Murray, the one where he was identified for misconducting with Charlie’s Angels star Lucy Liu who called out that Murray used language which was “inexcusable and unacceptable.” Lucy stood up for herself during that time, we can surely associate him being called the Controversial Comedian.
Drew Barrymore, the Charlie’s Angles co-star also addressed the issue quoting “What really happened was Bill was just in a — you know, comedians can be a little dark sometimes — and he just came in in a bad mood.”
In another case, the Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss who worked with Murray in the film “What About Bob,” outlined Murray as a “Drunken Bully” who threw an ashtray toward him.
Dreyfuss mentioned in an interview that “He put his face next to me, nose-to-nose, and he screamed at the top of his lungs, ‘Everyone hates you! You are tolerated!’”
Adding to the list, the film writer and producer, Laura Ziskin expressed how Murray threatened her. She continued and told how Murray tossed her into the lake after a disagreement between them.
With such a history, the complaint about sure needs to be taken seriously and investigated for getting to the bottom of the case. Nobody should accept such bullies and they should for sure be called out for their “Inappropriate Behavior.”
The halt in production of the film seems to be a fair decision amidst such controversial matters.
