Drew Barrymore weighs in on Lucy Liu-Bill Murray Charlie's Angels clash

Drew Barrymore is there for her girl Lucy Liu (that's a fair interpretation of the opening lyrics to Destiny's Child Charlie's Angels "Independent Women, Pt. 1" song, right?)

On Tuesday's episode of the movie star's daytime talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, the actress spoke with Ross Matthews and Everything Iconic podcast host Danny Pellegrino. When the subject of 2000's Charlie's Angels came up, Pellegrino asked the actress what happened between Liu and Bill Murray on the set. (In July, Liu was asked about standing up to the actor on set by the L.A. Times — and her response made headlines.)

"You want to know what happened? You want to spill the tea?" Barrymore began. "Okay, so what really happened was Bill was just in a — you know comedians can be a little dark sometimes — and he just came in in a bad mood and what you have to know is how much Lucy stood up for herself, and that was the great thing that came out of an unfortunate circumstance. She literally said, 'I do not accept that kind of behavior from you.' And we all supported her and backed her up, and we moved forward."

Pellegrino, no stranger to asking celebrities difficult questions, followed up by asking if Murray's attention was directed at Liu or everyone in general.

"There was a general, and then he zeroed in on her," Barrymore continued. "And, in the workplace, it is so important that we respect each other, and if you don't feel you are being respected, to speak up for yourself and to have people around you say, 'I back this person.' I respected her then; I respect her now. I am proud of us as a team and a company that we didn't tiptoe on the eggshells. We dealt with it right then and there, we were strong, and we moved forward, and we didn't accept anything less moving forward."

Barrymore was a producer on the 2000 film, and her production company, Flower Films, was involved in the making of the project.

Back in July, the L.A. Times interviewed Liu for a Q&A not long after a tweet about the alleged 2000 interaction surfaced. The reporter told Liu that she "became somewhat of a feminist icon" after a story about her "standing up to Bill Murray on the set of Charlie's Angels went viral." The Times reporter followed up by asking the actress what she remembered about the interaction.

Liu responded by saying that a scene had been reworked on the film's set when Murray was not in attendance. When they finally did the scene with the Bosley-playing actor, "Bill starts to sort of hurl insults," Liu said, opting not to "get into the specifics" with The Times.

She said it appeared Murray was looking at her as he continued. "I say, 'I'm so sorry. Are you talking to me?' And clearly he was, because then it started to become a one-on-one communication," Liu said.

The actress said Murray's language was "inexcusable and unacceptable," and in response, she stood up for herself. "And I don't regret it," she continued. "Because no matter how low on the totem pole you may be or wherever you came from, there's no need to condescend or to put other people down. And I would not stand down, and nor should I have."

Reps for Murray didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

On her Tuesday show, Barrymore revealed that she sent Liu a video of support when the old story came up again.

"I got to say Lucy is out there you know, right now, talking about her instance with Bill Murray, and I did this whole video and like sent it to her to back her up and she was like, 'Nah, I don't need it,'" Barrymore said.

Last fall on Drew, she reunited with Liu and Cameron Diaz, where they reminisced about their time on Charlie's Angels and their friendship.

Related content:

• Lucy Liu recalls Charlie's Angels clash with Bill Murray: 'I'm not going to sit there and be attacked'
• Charlie's Angels reunite as Lucy Liu is honored with a star on the Walk of Fame
• Breaking down the Charlie's Angels trailer — including that heavenly homage to the 2000 film