Bill Murray, 74, comes under fire for unexpectedly kissing actress Naomi Watts: ‘He humiliated her!’
Bill Murray has sparked outrage after unexpectedly kissing his co-star Naomi Watts on the mouth during a live television interview.
The incident occurred on Monday evening whilst the pair appeared on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen to promote their latest film, The Friend.
The 74-year-old actor’s actions have been met with fierce criticism from viewers who branded the kiss “gross” and “shameful”.
Murray and Watts, 56, who previously starred together in the 2014 dramedy St Vincent, were participating in a Q&A segment when the unscripted moment took place.
The awkward moment unfolded when a viewer called in to ask Watts to nominate her favourite on-screen kiss and before the Australian actress could respond, Murray grabbed her face and planted a kiss directly on her lips.
It appeared the kiss was not rehearsed, with Watts looking visibly taken aback by the exchange, leaving her to nervously and tell Murray: “You’ve got lipstick on your face,” before asking, “Did I go red?”
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Murray stared directly at the camera, giving a thumbs-up before declaring: “That was too easy. That was way too easy,” with the incident sparking widespread condemnation on social media platforms.
“I feel so bad for her that she had to pretend to be okay afterwards,” one commenter wrote on X. “He just humiliated her on live TV.”
Another viewer pointed to Murray’s forceful approach, writing: “The death grip on her face… poor Naomi. The look he gives the camera like…yep and wtf are you gonna do about it?”
On Reddit, users described the moment as “horrifying” and “beyond gross”.
One person commented: “When the 80’s meets the noughties. It was never right to do something like that back in the day, but it was accepted far more than it is now, and rightly so.”
Watts eventually managed to answer the original question about her favourite on-screen kiss and said: “Well, of course, it’s Billy Crudup, my husband.”
The Oscar-nominated actress married The Morning Show star Crudup in 2023 after they met whilst filming the thriller series Gypsy in 2017.
In a recent extract from her forthcoming book, Watts revealed how Crudup put her at ease during their first intimate encounter after she told him about going through early menopause.
This is not Murray’s first brush with controversy regarding his behaviour towards colleagues.
In April 2022, production on the film Being Mortal was suspended after a “much younger” female crew member filed a complaint against Murray and reportedly accused him of straddling her on set and was “horrified” by what she “interpreted as entirely sexual” behaviour.
Murray allegedly paid a £100,000 settlement and later described the incident to CNBC as a “difference of opinion”.
@deciderdotcom Bill Murray grabbed his #thefriend co-star Naomi Watts’ face and planted a big smooch on her mouth after a cheeky virtual fan question on #wwhl. #billmurray #naomiwatts #andycohen ♬ original sound – Decider
Actress Lucy Liu also recently discussed her clash with Murray during filming of Charlie’s Angels in 2000.
Liu claimed Murray had “hurled insults” at her, using language she described as “inexcusable and unacceptable”.