Celebs Who Can't Stand Bill Murray
The following article includes descriptions of domestic violence and abuse.
There's no denying that Bill Murray is one of the most successful, beloved comedians in the world. From his breakthrough in the early years of "Saturday Night Live" to receiving critical acclaim for such films as "Rushmore," "Broken Flowers," and "Lost in Translation" (including an Oscar nod for the latter), Murray's string of big-screen comedy hits is downright astonishing — a list that includes "Ghostbusters," "Stripes," "Caddyshack," and many more. Murray has also established a reputation as a true iconoclast. He has no agent or manager, just a 1-800 number, with those trying to land him for a project invited to leave a pitch after the beep; if he's interested, he'll get back to you.
In recent years, however, a far darker side of Murray has been brought to light. This has been evident as a result of numerous allegations of on-set misconduct, spanning decades, from a backstage fistfight with Chevy Chase during his "SNL" days to a murky 2022 incident in which his inappropriate behavior with a female staffer caused an entire movie to shut down; Murray ultimately shelled out $100,000 to settle said staffer's harassment complaint.
There have been even more allegations, from co-stars, directors, producers — even one of his ex-wives — about bullying and worse. In fact, it's fair to say that he's burned some bridges and made some enemies over the years, all while churning on comedy gold. To find out more, read on for a look at celebs who can't stand Bill Murray.
Bill Murray made 9-year-old Seth Green cry
One would think that unexpectedly encountering Bill Murray backstage at "Saturday Night Live" would make for a great anecdote. For Seth Green, that definitely proved to be the case — although not for the reasons most people might assume. Before appearing in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and the "Austin Powers" movies, Green was a 9-year-old child actor who'd been cast in an "SNL" sketch during an episode that Murray was hosting.
According to Green, he was killing time in the "SNL" green room when Murray strolled in. "He saw me sitting on the arm of this chair and made a big fuss about me being in his seat," Green recalled during an appearance on "Good Mythical Morning." "And I was like, 'That is absurd. I am sitting on the arm of this couch. There are several lengths of this sofa. Kindly eff-off.' And he was like, 'That's my chair.'"
Green's youthful protestations fell on deaf ears, and Murray grabbed the kid by the ankles and flipped him upside down. "He dangled me over a trash can and he was like, 'The trash goes in the trash can.' And I was screaming, and I swung my arms, flailed wildly ..." Green said. The whole thing came to a conclusion when Murray let go, sending him crashing into the trash can. "I was horrified. I ran away, hid under the table in my dressing room and just cried," Green said.
Bill Murray's ex-wife sounded the alarm in her divorce filing
In 1997, a year after divorcing his first wife, Margaret Kelly, Bill Murray tied the knot with Jennifer Butler, a costume designer who worked on such Murray movies as "Scrooged," "Ghostbusters II," and "Groundhog Day." She and Murray had four sons together.
In 2008, Butler filed for divorce — and made some pretty eye-raising allegations in the process. As the Associated Press reported (via the Los Angeles Times), Butler's characterization of Murray wasn't exactly "Father Knows Best," with her divorce filing claiming he was a prodigious abuser of alcohol and marijuana and was also a sex addict. She accused him of habitual cheating, regularly having sex with other women when he was away from home.
Infidelity, however, wasn't the worst of it. Butler also alleged that Murray had become violent toward her. She recounted one incident in particular in which she claimed that he "hit her in the face and then told her she was 'lucky he didn't kill her.'" Murray did not comment on Butler's allegations; he did, however, pay her the reported sum of $7 million as a divorce settlement. Butler died in 2021. "A proud squeaky wheel who fought the system and flaunted her nonconformity," read her obituary.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support on their website.
Bill Murray 'hated' Rob Schneider and his fellow SNL cast members
Like many former members of the "Saturday Night Live" cast, Bill Murray returned to Studio 8H over the years in the capacity of host. That was the case with a 1993 episode, in which Rob Schneider and the rest of the cast at the time were no doubt delighted when they learned the comedy icon would be returning to his old stomping grounds. As Schneider recalled, however, that delight pretty much evaporated as soon as Murray arrived and treated his "SNL" successors with disdain.
"He wasn't very nice to us," Schneider said during a 2022 appearance on SiriusXM's "The Jim Norton & Sam Roberts Show". "He hated us on 'Saturday Night Live' when he hosted. Absolutely hated us. I mean, seething." According to Schneider, Murray was particularly displeased with Chris Farley. Schneider wasn't entirely sure why but theorized that Farley's emulation of John Belushi's on-the-edge, drug-fueled lifestyle — which sadly wound up killing both men — disturbed Murray. "That's my interpretation," Schneider admitted, "but I don't really know."
All in all, Schneider remembered Murray's week on the show as being unpleasant for everyone in the cast. "He just hated, like, all of us, pretty much," Schneider said. He did, however, jokingly point to at least one silver lining. "The least of the hate was to me [and] I took great pleasure in that he hated me less, because he's my hero," he quipped.
Co-star Richard Dreyfuss accused Bill Murray of being a 'drunken bully'
Bill Murray starred alongside Richard Dreyfuss in the 1991 comedy movie "What About Bob?" While Murray played a psychiatric patient whose annoying clinginess propelled Dreyfuss' shrink to explosive acts of fury, it was Murray who was angry behind the scenes.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly back in 1993, Murray acknowledged the two co-stars weren't exactly best buddies during production. "[Richard Dreyfuss and I] didn't get along on the movie particularly, but it worked for the movie," Murray said. "I mean, I drove him nuts, and he encouraged me to drive him nuts."
Decades later, Dreyfuss candidly revealed that their relationship was far more fraught than Murray's characterization, describing one particularly nasty incident. According to Dreyfuss, when Murray returned from dinner, having allegedly downed a few cocktails, Dreyfuss attempted to show him a change he'd made to the script that would make the scene funnier. Murray lost it. "He was an Irish drunken bully, is what he was," Dreyfuss told Yahoo! Entertainment in 2019. "And 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!'" That was only the warmup act, with Murray following up by hurling a heavy glass ashtray at his co-star. "He threw it at my face," Dreyfuss said. "And it weighed about three-quarters of a pound. And he missed me. I got up and left."
Bill Murray threw producer Laura Ziskin into a lake after an angry confrontation
"What About Bob?" not only found Bill Murray clashing with his co-star but also with the movie's producer, Laura Ziskin. Ziskin, who passed away in 2011, detailed what took place in a 1993 interview with the Los Angeles Times, in which she was one of several people to share stories of the star's bad behavior. As Ziskin recalled, she and Murray had a discussion that turned into a disagreement and then evolved into a fight. Murray ended the discussion by throwing the fully clothed Ziskin off a dock and into a lake.
According to Ziskin, there was also the threat of physical violence. "Bill also threatened to throw me across the parking lot and then broke my sunglasses and threw them across the parking lot," she told the Times. "I was furious and outraged at the time, but having produced a dozen movies, I can safely say it is not common behavior."
"What About Bob?" director Frank Oz openly admitted that making the movie was something of a nightmare. "It was incredibly difficult, incredibly full of tension," he said in a 2007 interview with Ain't It Cool News. In a subsequent interview with IGN, Oz insisted that Murray wasn't the only troublemaker. "The memories of that are that there was a lot of tension on the set, because everybody had their own viewpoint on how to make the movie better," he added.
Geena Davis complained about Bill Murray's inappropriate behavior during a hotel room meeting
Geena Davis co-starred with Bill Murray in the 1990 heist comedy "Quick Change," which he co-directed. The movie proved to be a huge flop. "The most fun movie experience I've ever had — until the release," Murray jokingly told Entertainment Weekly of the film. According to Davis, at one point, she met Murray in a hotel suite to discuss the film's script, but Murray derailed the meeting with his tenacious attempts to use a portable massage gadget on her. "I've never spoken about it publicly," Davis told People. She published an excerpt from her 2022 book, "Dying of Politeness: A Memoir," recounting the incident.
"I said no multiple times, but he wouldn't relent," Davis wrote. "I would have had to yell at him and cause a scene if I was to get him to give up trying to force me to do it; the other men in the room did nothing to make it stop."
Davis also alleged that Murray angrily reprimanded her in front of hundreds of bystanders. As she told People, she didn't view sharing her recollections of his bad behavior to be a betrayal. "I figure it's sort of rather universally known that he could be difficult to work with," she explained. "And so I don't feel like I'm busting him in a way that will necessarily shock him. I think he knows very well the way he can behave."
His clash with Harold Ramis while making Groundhog Day ended their friendship
Bill Murray met Harold Ramis while they worked together at Chicago's Second City in the early 1970s and forged a friendship. That resulted in future screen collaborations, including "Caddyshack," (which Ramis directed and co-wrote), co-starring together in "Stripes," and then two "Ghostbusters" movies before their final film collaboration, "Groundhog Day."
While now regarded as a critical and commercial triumph, "Groundhog Day" was difficult for Ramis to make due to his frequent clashes with Murray over various creative aspects of the film. Meanwhile, the famously mercurial Murray was also butting heads with studio execs, who requested that he hire an assistant who could serve as a middleman to foster communication between star and studio. Murray did just that, but the person he hired was both deaf and nonverbal and communicated solely through American Sign Language — which Murray promised to learn. "That's anti-communication," Ramis told Entertainment Weekly. "You know, 'Let's not talk.'"
Murray's simmering feud with Ramis during the making of the movie boiled over when, during one particularly heated discussion, the exasperated director grabbed Murray's shirt and threw him against a wall. After that, Murray stopped speaking to Ramis. In her 2018 book, "Ghostbuster's Daughter: Life with My Dad, Harold Ramis," his daughter, Violet Ramis Stiel, wrote (via Page Six) that Ramis was "heartbroken, confused and yet unsurprised by the rejection." According to Ramis Stiel, Murray visited Ramis shortly before his death in 2014 to mend fences.
Lucy Liu accused Bill Murray of 'hurling insults' at her while filming Charlie's Angels
The alleged acrimony between Lucy Liu and Bill Murray while filming "Charlie's Angels" has been well documented, with persistent rumors throughout the years that Liu and Murray didn't get along. That was seemingly confirmed when Murray sat out for the sequel, with comedian Bernie Mac brought in as his replacement.
Speaking with the Los Angeles Times' "Asian Enough" podcast (via TheWrap), Liu confirmed they'd clashed and recalled one incident in particular. "As we're doing the scene, Bill starts to sort of hurl insults, and I won't get into the specifics, but it kept going on and on," she said. "I was, like, 'Wow, he seems like he's looking straight at me.'" Liu was taken aback but held her ground. "Some of the language was inexcusable and unacceptable, and I was not going to just sit there and take it. So, yes, I stood up for myself, and I don't regret it," she added.
Liu's "Charlie's Angels" co-star, Drew Barrymore, confirmed her account during an episode of her daytime talk show, "The Drew Barrymore Show." "So 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," Barrymore said. "And what you have to know is how much Lucy stood up for herself and that was the great thing that came out of an unfortunate circumstance."
Charlie's Angels director McG claimed he was head-butted by Bill Murray
Lucy Liu may have allegedly been on the receiving end of verbal abuse from Bill Murray while filming "Charlie's Angels," but the film's director has claimed that he experienced Murray's wrath in a far more tangible way.
McG — whose real name is Joseph McGinty Nichol — made his feature directorial debut with "Charlie's Angels," having previously directed music videos in the late 1990s for such groups as Korn, The Offspring, Smash Mouth, and others. Speaking with The Guardian in 2009, McG declared that he typically got into fights with the stars of his movies, some of which had turned physical. "I mean, I've been head-butted by an A-list star. Square in the head. An inch later and my nose would have been obliterated," he revealed. When pressed to name names, McG was initially hesitant. "Nah, I probably shouldn't," he said, but then went ahead and gave in. "But it was Bill Murray."
Murray was asked about McG's account of what had taken place and completely denied head-butting the director. "That's bulls***!" Murray insisted in a 2009 interview with The Times. "That's complete crap. I don't know why he made that story up. He has a very active imagination."
Angelica Huston recalled some harsh treatment from Bill Murray
Ever since starring in Wes Anderson's 1998 comedy "Rushmore," Bill Murray has appeared in nearly all of the director's subsequent movies. In a few of these, Anjelica Huston was one of his co-stars, appearing alongside him in 2001's "The Royal Tenenbaums," and then, in 2004, "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou."
In the latter film, Huston portrayed the wife of Murray's character, the titular Steve Zissou, an ocean-going explorer loosely modeled after Jacques Cousteau. "He was a s*** to me on 'Life Aquatic,'" Huston recalled during a 2019 interview with Vulture, detailing a somewhat ugly incident that took place while they were filming in Italy. "The first week I was there, we were all in this little hotel, and he invited the entire cast to go and have dinner, except me," she claimed. "And everyone came down for dinner, a little dog-faced about my not being invited, and they were all like, 'Oh, you know, we don't really want to go. That was worse than anything."
However, Huston also noted that Murray's behavior toward her could be erratic — and that he wasn't always terrible. "He showed up at my husband's funeral," Huston told the outlet. "He couldn't have been nicer that day. He showed up. A lot of people didn't."
Jay Pharoah body-slammed Bill Murray backstage at SNL
Former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Jay Pharoah recalled getting into it with Bill Murray after he dropped by during one of the show's all-night writing sessions — something Pharoah found odd since Murray wasn't hosting that week. "Bill Murray looks at me, he goes, 'I know your work. There's something about you you're not showing the world,'" Pharoah said during an appearance on "Club Shay Shay." "I'm like, 'Okay, this is a sentimental conversation.' It immediately switches, like 15 seconds later. He's like, 'Come here, fat boy!' Fat boy? I was one of the most built people on the show ... He calls me fat boy, then he gets on me, he starts hitting me ... in the same place, over and over again."
As Pharoah explained, the hits weren't that hard, but Murray just kept at it to the extent that, eventually, the area being struck became painful. "So as soon as it started stinging, I said, 'Okay, I gotta drop him.' So I picked him up and I Samoan-dropped him on the sofa.'" Despite being slammed into the sofa, Murray still didn't stop; in fact, Pharoah had to hold him down. "He was still trying to fight me," Pharoah marveled.
Ultimately, Pharoah admitted he was doubtful that Murray would even remember what happened. "Drunk out of his mind, no recollection, probably, of this whatsoever," Pharoah said. "He was attacking me, and I got him."