The daily gossip: Report reveals Bill Murray's alleged misconduct, Aubrey Plaza 'freaked out' Robert De Niro, and more

1. Bill Murray allegedly kissed and straddled a female production staffer

What did Bill Murray do on set that got his movie shut down? We finally have the answer. Six months after the Aziz Ansari film Being Mortal suspended production, Puck reports this was because of an incident where Murray "started kissing" a "much younger" female production staffer's body and "straddling her" while they were near a bed on set. Murray reportedly felt the woman had been flirting with him, and Puck writes it "was perhaps an unclear bit of physical comedy." But the woman was "horrified," alleging she "couldn't move because he outweighed her." Murray also reportedly kissed her on the mouth, although they were both wearing masks. Production was suspended after the woman reportedly made a complaint, and it still isn't clear when, or if, it will resume. According to Puck, Murray settled with the woman for over $100,000. He previously told CNBC he "did something I thought was funny and it wasn't taken that way," calling this "quite an education for me."

Puck

2. Aubrey Plaza 'freaked out' Robert De Niro

Sometimes committing to the bit can have cringe-worthy consequences, as Aubrey Plaza learned first-hand. At the London Film Festival, the Parks and Recreation star spoke about working with Robert De Niro on the film Dirty Grandpa, recalling that she inadvertently weirded him out by staying in character. "My character had one goal: To have sex with him," she said. "I was acting totally insane as the character because we were about to shoot. I don't think he understood that wasn't me." In fact, Plaza recalled one of her agents hearing that "Bob's a little freaked out" by her, and when she met with him out of character at a lunch, he didn't even recognize her. "After that he was normal," she said. "At first I think I came on really strong. I did some questionable things I wouldn't do anymore." Clearly, you can take the girl out of April Ludgate, but you can't take the April Ludgate out of the girl.

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Variety

3. Kevin Bacon lost most of his money in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme

For anyone affected by Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, playing "six degrees of Kevin Bacon" isn't hard. On the SmartLess podcast, Bacon opened up about losing "a bunch of money" in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. "We had most of our money in Madoff," the Footloose star explained, adding that there were "obvious life lessons" to be drawn from the experience of losing it. "If something is too good to be true, it's too good to be true," he said. "When something like that happens, you look at each other, then you go, 'Well, that sucks. Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work.'" Bacon admitted he does "get angry" about it, though he acknowledged many people "had it a lot worse," and he noted he did get "a portion of some money" back. Besides, investing with Madoff still wasn't as terrible a decision as agreeing to star in They/Them.

Entertainment Weekly

4. Jamie Lee Curtis has seen that 'trauma' meme

Did you know the new Halloween movies are about trauma? If you didn't, Jamie Lee Curtis will come to your house to personally let you know. The Laurie Strode actress has underlined that theme of the latest Halloween films in virtually every interview she's given about them, and it became such a talking point that a compilation of her repeatedly saying "trauma" — or "trowma" — became a meme. Well, speaking about Halloween Ends at New York Comic-Con, Curtis again referenced "Laurie and her trauma" — only to quickly catch herself and realize she just extended that montage by another two seconds. "I've seen the f--king meme," Curtis said. "So don't worry. It was funny." But Curtis, who also sounded slightly ticked off about it, gave a giant middle finger to her "trauma" critics, declaring, "But the movie also made a f--king fortune, so f--k you." That's our final girl.

Popcrave

5. Wild 'M3GAN' trailer introduces a dancing killer robot doll

Move aside, Annabelle. We're done with you, Chucky. The world now belongs to M3GAN. Universal has dropped a wacky trailer for the new horror film M3GAN, which introduces the internet's new favorite dancing muder doll. Allison Williams stars as a woman who develops a toy robot friend and gives it to her niece, only for it to start killing people. The trailer, set to a creepy version of Taylor Swift's "It's Nice to Have a Friend," almost immediately went viral, largely thanks to an unhinged, TikTok-ready scene of M3GAN — or "yassified Annabelle," as many tweets dubbed her — psychotically dancing. Within minutes, the scene was already being remixed, and even Megan Thee Stallion weighed in. "I will be the THEE FIRST in line to see M3GAN !!!," she tweeted, declaring, "Annabelle b---h your OVER." The movie hits theaters in January, so it's safe to say Time Person of the Year 2023 is already in the bag.

YouTube