Mythic Quest's F. Murray Abraham Apologizes to Cast Amid Misconduct Claims
UPDATE: 4/20/23 2:40 p.m. ET.
Abraham apologized on Thursday, April 20, for his controversial actions on the set of Mythic Quest.
“This is a sincere and deeply felt apology,” he said in a statement via Variety. “Though never my intention to offend anyone, I told jokes, nothing more, that upset some of my colleagues and as a result lost a great job with wonderful people. I have grown in my understanding from this experience and I hope they will forgive me.”
Original story below:
F. Murray Abraham was reportedly fired from Mythic Quest due to sexual misconduct allegations.
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The 83-year-old actor abruptly exited the Apple TV+ series in April 2022 after “at least two concerns” of inappropriate behavior were raised, Rolling Stone reported on Monday, April 17.
The first alleged incident led to the White Lotus star getting a warning and being told to stay away from some of his Mythic Quest actresses, the magazine reported.
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The second incident was reportedly brought to the attention of creator Rob McElhenney, which resulted in Abraham being let go from the project.
“We take allegations of misconduct seriously and investigate them thoroughly,” a spokesperson for Lionsgate told multiple outlets in a statement on Monday. “As a matter of corporate policy, we do not discuss personnel actions.”
The Oscar winner portrayed C.W. Longbottom on the comedy on seasons 1 and 2. The series, which concluded season 3 in January, follows Ian Grimm’s (McElhenney) video game company and its workers as they do everything possible to keep their hit game relevant.
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The production company previously announced the casting shake-up in April 2022 but didn’t give a reason for Abraham’s exit. “We do not comment on matters concerning personnel,” Lionsgate said in a statement to Deadline at the time.
The It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia alum, for his part, briefly addressed Abraham’s absence in January.
“Yeah, it’s a bummer to not have Murray in this season,” McElhenney, 46, told IGN when speaking about season 3. “But we recognize that C.W. is a beloved character and obviously a huge part of the show, so we made sure that we have a really fitting tribute to him. And I don’t wanna give anything away. We definitely address it in a big way.”
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Abraham went on to portray womanizer Bert Di Grasso on season 2 of White Lotus, which premiered in October 2022.
“Bert says a lot of questionable things and has kind of a problematic attitude toward sex and women and relationships,” creator Mike White told The New York Times in December 2022 of his choice to cast the longtime actor in the role. “I just thought it’d be funny to have an actor who also has this kind of buoyancy and a ‘What me worry?’ type of attitude.”
White — whose hit HBO Max series has won 10 Emmys — added: “There’s something very mischievous about Murray, and he could obviously play the villain. But he also has this likable, unsinkable quality to him.”
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Us Weekly reached out to Apple TV+ and Abraham’s rep for comment.
