F. Murray Abraham issues 'sincere and deeply felt apology' following revelation of sexual misconduct allegations on 'Mythic Quest'

F. Murray Abraham has publicly apologized, days after Rolling Stone reported that the cause of his abrupt 2022 departure from the Apple+ TV show Mythic Quest was due to him having been fired for sexual misconduct.

"This is a sincere and deeply felt apology," Abraham said in a statement through his representative. "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."

According to the magazine, at least two concerns had been raised about Abraham's behavior: one resulting in him being told to stay away from some actresses working on the comedy, and another, brought to creator and star Rob McElhenney, resulted in his firing.

Abraham, who played old-school author C.W. Longbottom on the first two seasons of the show, was killed off in the third season. He had declined to comment on the reason he was leaving. Lionsgate, the studio behind the series, did the same, citing personnel matters.

Abraham, 83, won an Oscar for Best Actor in 1985 for his portrayal of Antonio Salieri in Amadeus. He's continued to appear in projects including the Showtime drama series Homeland, for which he was nominated for two Emmys; Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel; the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis; and, most recently, the second season of The White Lotus. In the latter, which premiered in October, he played a philandering grandfather staying at a hotel in Sicily with his son and grandson. IMDb lists his only upcoming project as the thriller Double Soul, in which his co-stars include Danny Glover, Paz Vega and Julian Sands, the actor who went missing in January while hiking California's treacherous Mt. Baldy.