Eddie Murphy has broken his silence on a joke made by David Spade on Saturday Night Live (SNL) in 1995, that left him feeling hurt and betrayed.
During an appearance on The New York Times' The Interview podcast on June 20, Murphy recalled a joke that Spade made about him during a December 1995 "Hollywood Minute" sketch.
In the infamous sketch, Spade showed a photo of Murphy and said, "Look children, it's a falling star, make a wish." The comment came after the release of Murphy's film Vampire in Brooklyn, which did not do well at the box office.
Murphy reflected to joke, stating “It was like, ‘Yo, it’s in-house! I’m one of the family, and you’re f------ with me like that?’ It hurt my feelings.”
He continued, “This is Saturday Night Live. I’m the biggest thing that ever came off that show. The show would have been off the air if I didn’t go back on the show, and now you got somebody from the cast making a crack about my career? And I know that he can’t just say that.”
“It was personal,” the Beverly Hills Cop actor added.
Murphy further expressed that he considered the joke "a cheap shot" and "felt it was racist."
"I'm cool with David Spade. Cool with [SNL creator] Lorne Michaels. Went back to SNL, I'm cool with everybody. It's all love," he said. "But I had a couple of cheap shots,” he concluded.
Eddie Murphy returned to SNL in 2019 to guest host and also appeared at the show's 40th anniversary celebration in 2015.
