In April 2022, Searchlight Pictures indefinitely suspended production on the comedy-drama film Being Mortal due to Bill Murray’s on-set sexual misconduct toward a young female crew member. Now, Being Mortal director Aziz Ansari seems to be arguing that the true victim of Murray’s movie-ending misbehavior was Aziz Ansari.
The last month has been something of an extended mask-off moment for Ansari, who, after successfully rehabbing his image following his own sexual misconduct scandal in 2018, has been on a campaign to show the public how little self-awareness he still has. After the former Parks and Recreation star caught heavy flak for performing at the Saudi-Royal-Family-funded Riyadh Comedy Festival earlier this month, Ansari attempted to reframe the lucrative trip as a sort of humor humanitarian mission to bring progress, change, blue jeans and rock and roll to a repressed Saudi Arabia, and the undoubtedly exorbitant paycheck that the Saudi Crown Prince personally cut him was just an added perk.
Then, last week, Ansari bragged about how, in preparation for his self-starred directorial debut Good Fortune, he “worked” as a DoorDash delivery worker for “a couple hours,” walking away from the harrowing experience as a changed man who will always leave a generous tip.
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Now, Ansari is looking back to what was supposed to be his Hollywood directing debut in Being Mortal and wondering whether the world is ready for him to finish what he started. For the sake of the women on the Being Mortal crew, let’s hope Murray hasn’t had the same thought.
While filming Being Mortal in 2022, Murray grabbed a young female staffer on the project, pinned her down on a bed and began kissing her face and body through his medical mask. Murray has since maintained that the incident was just a misconstrued bit of physical comedy with a coworker whom he considered a friend, but after the unnamed crew member filed a complaint against the film star, Murray paid out over $100,000 to settle it.
Searchlight suspended Being Mortal following the settlement, and the film that was supposed to be Ansari’s first feature project as a director was never completed. However, in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ansari expressed his desire to return to Being Mortal while conspicuously avoiding the controversy that caused its indefinite hiatus. “At some point, it’d be great to finish it,” Ansari said of Being Mortal. “I have some of the stuff edited. There’s so much stuff in it that we’re all really proud of.”
The director added of the likelihood that he ever finishes filming for Being Mortal, “I think we just have to wait and see.”
Ansari insists that Being Mortal, which was supposed to be a film adaptation of Atul Gawande’s 2014 non-fiction book by the same name, had a ton of potential that it was never able to realize for reasons Ansari refused to address. “I would love to finish that,” Ansari repeated of the movie that Murray’s lecherous on-set behavior derailed. “The project is something that means a lot to all of us, and it definitely comes up. Maybe there’s a world where we’ll finish it at some point.”
The actor, comedian and director’s tip-toeing around the sexual misconduct incident at the center of the Being Mortal production while bemoaning the saga as a missed career opportunity is shameful, but it’s sadly in-character for Ansari. Last month, The Hollywood Reporter asked Ansari about his reaction to Murray’s misbehavior while Ansari was promoting Good Fortune, and his comments were equally disappointing and revealing.
“He was devastated,” Ansari said of Murray’s response to the misconduct complaint. “He couldn’t believe it happened. I think this movie meant a lot to him.”
However, Ansari added that he was able to turn the cancellation of Being Mortal into a blessing in disguise, and he credited it with the development of Good Fortune. “I called Seth (Rogan),” said Ansari. “I said, ‘Hey, I know you’re supposed to be filming Being Mortal, so you’re free today. This is a shitty day for me. If you want to help me, read this, tell me if you want to do it.’“
Clearly, Ansari views Murray literally assaulting one of his young female employees as a personal and professional tragedy for himself and his star, and he’s hoping that enough time has passed since Being Mortal met its end that audiences will forget why Searchlight pulled out in the first place. And, since the 75-year-old Murray isn’t getting any younger, Ansari may be eager to get a move-on for Being Mortal, whether or not the real victim of his own toxic workplace is ready to move past it.
God forbid Murray should pass away before he finishes his scenes in Being Mortal, otherwise Ansari will undoubtedly try to make Murray’s death about himself, too.
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