Joseph B. Duncan : Joseph_D32

JOE ROGAN: You read Wired, the book about John Belushi, and something about it really bothered you. BILL MURRAY: I read about five pages and thought, “Oh my God, they framed Nixon.” If this is what he writes about my friend, someone I’ve known for half my adult life, and it’s completely inaccurate, what the hell did they do to Nixon? JOE ROGAN: So you felt like the book was getting its story from people outside Belushi’s inner circle? BILL MURRAY: Absolutely. He was talking to people from the outer, outer circle. And I’m thinking, “Wait a minute. That guy way over there is telling you who John Belushi was?” JOE ROGAN: But you knew Belushi personally. BILL MURRAY: I did. And that’s what really opened my eyes. Once you see someone get something completely wrong about a person you actually knew, you start wondering how much of what you read is bullshit. JOE ROGAN: Belushi obviously meant a lot to you. BILL MURRAY: He made people’s careers possible. He brought so many of us from Second City to New York. He dragged people along with him. There were musicians who benefited from what he did for the blues. There were people who slept on his couch and stayed at his house until they made it. JOE ROGAN: And you think the book didn’t capture that side of him? BILL MURRAY: Not in the five pages I read. There was no balance. No compensation for who he really was. It felt like exploitation of his death. JOE ROGAN: And that’s the problem with narratives like that. Once the book becomes the story, that’s what everyone remembers. BILL MURRAY: Exactly. John was complicated. He died in a terrible way, but when he was on stage, he was the best stage actor I ever saw. You couldn’t take your eyes off him. JOE ROGAN: That’s a completely different picture of Belushi than the one people usually get. BILL MURRAY: And that’s my problem. If someone gets something so wrong about a person I knew, it makes me question everything else they’re telling me.