The White Lotus star F. Murray Abraham was fired from his other show, Apple TV+’s Mythic Quest, due to multiple complaints of sexual misconduct, reports Rolling Stone.
Back in April 2022, producing studio Lionsgate suddenly announced the 83-year-old actor was not returning for Season 3 of Mythic Quest without providing any explanation. According to Rolling Stone, however, there were at least two instances of concerns being raised about Abraham’s behavior on set.
Rolling Stone reports that the first such incident led to a warning and Abraham being told to “keep away from some of the show’s actresses.” After creator and star Rob McElhenney learned of a second incident, Abraham was let go from the show.
Update: Abraham has released a statement in response to the allegations saying, “This is a sincere and deeply felt apology. 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.”
“We take allegations of misconduct seriously and investigate them thoroughly,” responded Lionsgate in a statement. “As a matter of corporate policy, we do not discuss our personnel actions.”
During the first two seasons of Mythic Quest, Abraham played C.W. Longbottom, the head writer of the eponymous video game. His departure from the show was explained in the Season 3 premiere with a letter that revealed Longbottom had been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
At the time, Rob McElhenney told Variety that it was “a bummer” to no longer have Abraham involved with the series. “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. We definitely address it in a big way.”
It’s worth noting that Abraham still went on to play his Golden Globe-nominated role as creepy grandfather Bert Di Grasso in Season 2 of The White Lotus after his firing from Mythic Quest was announced. Throughout the season, Bert’s son Dominic (Michael Imperioli) and grandson Albie (Adam DiMarco) pushed back against his inappropriate comments about women.
This article was updated on April 20th with Abraham’s statement.
