Eddie Murphy Remembers The Joke That Kept Him Away from SNL for 30 Years

Eddie Murphy attends the premiere of the film Candy Cane Lane in Los Angeles, California, U.S. November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

The Celebrity Beat…

Eddie Murphy says David Spade hurt his feelings back in 1995.

It was after Eddie’s movie “Vampire in Brooklyn” came out, and flopped.  Spade was doing “Weekend Update” on “Saturday Night Live”. He showed a picture of Eddie and said, quote, “Look, children, it’s a falling star.  Make a wish.”

Eddie tells the “New York Times”, quote, “It was like: ‘Yo, it’s in-house!  I’m one of the family, and you’re [effing] with me like that?’  It hurt my feelings like that, yeah.”

He adds that it was particularly hurtful because he knew that other people had to have heard the joke before it aired, and the producers had to okay it.  Quote, “I thought that was a cheap shot.  And it was kind of, I thought, I felt it was racist.”

That joke kept Eddie away from “SNL” for 30 years.  He finally returned in 2015, and he says, quote, “I’m cool with David Spade.  Cool with Lorne Michaels . . . I’m cool with everybody.  It’s all love.”

In the same interview, Eddie talks about avoiding drugs and alcohol.  He says that when he was 19, he declined an offer to snort coke with Robin Williams and John Belushi and he didn’t smoke his first joint until he was 30.

SOURCE: New York Times