Lucy Liu Explains Why She Spoke Out About Bill Murray’s Behavior onCharlie's Angels: ‘I Am Going to Protect Myself’

Mar. 15, 2025

Lucy Liu in 2024; Bill Murray in 2019.Photo:Isaiah Trickey/FilmMagic; Daniele Venturelli/WireImage

Isaiah Trickey/FilmMagic; Daniele Venturelli/WireImage

Lucy Liuis reflecting on her confrontation withBill Murraywhile filmingCharlie’s Angels, 25 years after the movie’s release.

While on the set of the 2000 action-comedy, Liu allegedly had an uncomfortable moment with Murray, who started to “hurl insults” at her while they were filming a scene, using “inexcusable and unacceptable” language, she claimed to theLos Angeles Timesin 2021. Even though she felt she “probably had the least amount of privilege in terms of creatively participating,” Liu said, she stuck up for herself.

In a new interview withThe Guardian, published on Monday, Jan. 13, Liu, 56, said she has no regrets about the moment.

“I really didn’t think about it,” theKill Bill: Vol. 1star told the outlet of her response to Murray, 74. “I would have done that in any situation. I think when I sense something is not right, I am going to protect myself. It’s an innate thing to do if you feel there’s injustice, and I always feel that way.”

Lucy Liu in ‘Charlie’s Angels’.Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock

Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock

Liu felt she couldn’t stay quiet, tellingThe Guardian, “If I was, it would have been a much easier road. But because I’ve never been that person, we had to find a way.”

After rumors about the on-set clash between Liu and Murray resurfaced on social media in 2021, Liu addressed the confrontation on theLos Angeles Times’Asian Enoughpodcast, acknowledging that some of the details were “private.”

Lucy Liu in November 2024.John Nacion/Variety via Getty

John Nacion/Variety via Getty

“Some of the language was inexcusable and unacceptable, and I was not going to just sit there and take it," Liu continued in 2021. “So, yes, I stood up for myself, and I don’t regret it. Because no matter how low on the totem pole you may be or wherever you came from, there’s no need to condescend or to put other people down. And I would not stand down, and nor should I have.”

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In the years since Liu came forward, Murray has faced several other allegations of inappropriate behavior on set. In October 2022, the actorsettled with a female stafferfrom the set of Aziz Ansari’s filmBeing Mortalafter he allegedly kissed and straddled her, prompting Searchlight Pictures tohalt productionin April 2022.

“I did something I thought was funny, and it wasn’t taken that way,” Murray told CNBC in April 2022.

In anOctober 2022 interview with PEOPLE,Geena Davisalleged that Murray verbally berated her in front of the film crew while she waited for a wardrobe adjustment on the set of their 1990 comedyQuick Change. PEOPLE also reached out to Murray’s reps when Davis made her allegations but did not receive a response.

“For publicity, I saw him after we made the movie, but other than that, I haven’t seen him or spoken to him,” Davis, who wrote about the incident in her memoirDying of Politeness: A Memoir, said.

“I figure it’s sort of rather universally known that he could be difficult to work with. 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.”

A rep for Murray didn’t immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

source: people.com