Nolte: Director Wes Anderson Stands By Blacklisted Bill Murray

By way of Wes Anderson’s public support for blacklisted actor Billy Murray, we finally have a stand-up guy in Hollywood.

Like so many in this, the left’s neo-McCarthy era, without a trial, without even clarifying what the allegations are, 72-year-old Bill Murray was blacklisted by Hollywood over vague allegations of misconduct.

What we do know sounds like horseplay—something about playfully rubbing his COVID mask against that of a female production assistant.

According to numerous reports, Murray has always been a moody, mercurial actor. After these latest allegations became public, actress and Professional Crybaby Geena Davis said that Murray yelled at her 30 years ago and, later, rubbed her back on the nationally televised Arsenio Hall Show with an electric massager. This might be the first time someone alleged being sexually harassed on national TV. Well, no one said actresses were smart, and like the rest of America, I have seen Geena’s boobs. Can you imagine Thelma or Louise whining over something like this? He yelled at me! Baby.

Honestly, I haven’t been a Bill Murray fan for 30 years, but to destroy an entire man over nonsense, to strip him of his reputation and career, to smear him with a vague and insidious “sexual misconduct” allegations… We are right back in the McCarthy era.

Seven-time Oscar nominee Wes Anderson is having none of it. He and Murray have worked together more than a half-dozen times, and when asked about his friend and frequent collaborator, Anderson said:

My experience with Bill is so extensive. Bill was such a great supporter of me from the very beginning. I don’t want to speak about somebody else’s experience, but he’s really part of my family. You know, he’s my daughter’s godfather. In fact, he actually baptized her. He’s the one who splashed the water.

Murray is not in Anderson’s latest movie Asteroid City, which had people speculating that Anderson had joined the blacklisters. Anderson explained that he had not:

 Bill was supposed to be in the movie [Asteroid City]. It’s not great to say, ‘Well this person was supposed to play this part.’ Once someone gets a part, you’re supposed to say, ‘Well, this is their part.’ But in this case, because there was some confusion about what happened with Bill. He was supposed to play the motel manager who Steve Carell plays, and Bill got COVID four days before he was supposed to start shooting. He was in Ireland and in the case of our movie, we had schedules of so many people that are all puzzled around. The people who Bill was supposed to play scenes with were going to be gone by the time he cleared the COVID protocols and stuff. And in fact, he was quite sick. So Bill missed his part and Steve Carell came in quite suddenly. He was great, I loved having him. I met him, he arrived, and we were immediately shooting.

Then when Bill got better, he came to Spain. At the end of the movie … Bill and I got in a car and drove to France. It was a great way to finish but it was the first time I hadn’t had him in a movie in a long time.

Other than 1998’s Rushmore (#151 on my Greatest American Movies list) and Royal Tenenbaums (2002), I’m also no Wes Anderson fan, but he deserves enormous credit for standing by his friend.

This country needs more Wes Anderson, a lot more.

This fascist madness has to stop.