Bill Murray, after bagels and tequila, defends Miley Cyrus, in first-ever Comic-Con appearance

For the thousands of fans who lined up for hours to get into the first film presentation of this year’s Comic-Con International, getting to see comic legend Bill Murray in a rare public appearance was (to quote “Caddyshack�) a Cinderella story.

Making his debut at Comic-Con, the actor, decked out in sunglasses and a bandanna, high-fived audience members as he walked to the stage to the strains of Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.� Murray was on hand to promote his upcoming comedy “Rock the Kasbah,� in theaters Oct. 23, in which he plays a washed-up rock promoter who becomes stranded in Afghanistan.

In an unsurprisingly loose presentation, the actor — who said he had started his morning with “some bagels and some tequila� — touched on everything from what it was like to shoot in Morocco (“They’re gentle, lovely people�) to the debate over the Confederate flag (“The world is changing�) to “Ghostbusters.�

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“Well, once upon a time, I did save the city of New York,� Murray said in a nod to the 1984 comedy when asked about his favorite role. “And I had the coolest damn car to drive around Manhattan.�

At one point, Murray charmed the crowd with an anecdote about how actor Bruce Willis had been a page in the early years of “Saturday Night Live�: “His job was to refill the M&M and peanut bowls in the actors’ dressing rooms,� he said. “Years later, after a few tequilas, he said, ‘Only you and Gilda [Radner] were nice to me.’ �

But the biggest surprise of the hourlong presentation may have come when Murray offered a spirited defense of Miley Cyrus, who taped an appearance on Murray’s upcoming Netflix Christmas special.

“I’m gonna say this officially: Miley Cyrus is good,� he said. “I thought she was a knucklehead crazy girl, the kind of girl you’d want to go on a road trip with. But she can really sing... I don’t wanna hear any bad rapping on Miley Cyrus.�

Not surprisingly, the crowd showered Murray with love throughout – and Murray reciprocated, albeit in his own Murray-esque way.

“Some of the best parties I’ve ever been to,� he said, “were with really insane nerds.�

Twitter: @joshrottenberg

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