“When I read ‘Wired’—the book written by, what’s his name, Woodward—about Belushi, I read like five pages, and I went, ‘Oh my God. They framed Nixon.’”
Legendary actor Bill Murray expressed his disdain for journalist Bob Woodward during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, citing his negative perception of Woodward’s work after reading part of “Wired: The Short Life & Fast Times of John Belushi.”
Murray and Rogan were discussing former President Richard Nixon when Rogan brought up theories suggesting that Nixon’s impeachment may have involved factors beyond the Watergate scandal. Rogan noted that Woodward, who covered Watergate, was formerly part of the intelligence community before his journalism career.
Murray, while clarifying that he is not a fan of Nixon, said his view of Woodward’s integrity changed after reading only a few pages of Wired, Woodward’s biography of Belushi.
“When I read ‘Wired’—the book written by, what’s his name, Woodward—about Belushi, I read like five pages, and I went, ‘Oh my God. They framed Nixon,’” Murray said. “If this is what he writes about my friend that I’ve known for half of my adult life—which is completely inaccurate—talking to the people of the outer circle getting the story, what the hell could they have done to Nixon?”
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View on XMurray admitted that he did not finish the book but found its opening pages appalling due to its inaccuracy.
“I acknowledge I only read five pages, but the five pages I read made me want to set fire to the whole thing,” he said. “Those five pages, I went, ‘If he did this to Belushi, what he did to Nixon is probably soiled for me, too.’”
He also criticized Woodward’s sourcing, arguing that his information came from unreliable individuals who were not close to Belushi. “The two sources that he had, if he had them for Wired, were so far outside the inner circle that it was criminal. Cruel,” Murray explained.
Belushi died of a drug overdose in 1982 at the age of 33, and Woodward’s book was published in 1984. A Rolling Stone article at the time revealed that friends and family members of Belushi agreed to be interviewed for Woodward’s book but later expressed that it was exploitative and failed to accurately portray him.
In recent years, Woodward has been known for his number of books focused on President Donald Trump, including “Fear” (2018), “Rage” (2020), and “Peril” (2021). In 2022, Woodward released “The Trump Tapes,” an audiobook of 20 interviews with Trump conducted between 2016 and 2020. Following its release, Trump sued and claimed he had not given Woodward permission to release the audio.
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