Eddie Murphy recalls feeling stung by ‘racist’ joke that David Spade made on Saturday Night Live in 1995
Eddie Murphy recalls how angry he was when David Spade made a “cheesy” and racist comment about him in 1995.
During Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, the Joe Dirt star, 59, held up a photo of the Trading Places actor, 63, and said, “Look kids, it’s a shooting star. Make a wish.”
At the time, Murphy was fresh off the box office flip Vampire in Brooklyn.
“It was like, ‘Yo, how could you do that? My career? Really? A joke about my career?’ So I thought that was a cheap comment. And it was kind of, I thought — I thought it was racist,” he said in an interview with the New York Times.
“It hurt my feelings. Most people who leave that show don’t go on and have these great careers. It was personal,” the Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F star said.
Eddie Murphy recalled how angry he was when David Spade used a cheap and racist slur at him in 1995
During Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, the Joe Dirt star, 59, showed a photo of the Trading Places actor, 63, and said, “Look kids, it’s a shooting star. Make a wish.’ Pictured in 2010
And while Murphy has forgiven Spade, he hasn’t forgotten what happened or how it made him feel.
The Party All the Time singer was a regular member of the SNL cast from 1980 to 1984 and knew the process of how a joke ended up on air.
“The show would have been taken off the air if I hadn’t come back, and now someone from the cast is making a joke about my career?” he said.
“And I know he can’t just say that,” the Doctor Doolittle star said.
‘A joke must go through these channels. So the producers felt it was okay to say that.
“And all the people who have been on that show, you’ve never heard anyone make a joke about anyone’s career,” he added.
Murphy and Spade spoke on the phone after the tasteless joke aired and Spade apologized, said he felt terrible and revealed in his 2016 memoir, Almost Interesting, that they spoke afterwards and ” [his] to beat.’
Spade recalled having a phone call with Murphy after the prank aired and feeling terrible.
At the time, Murphy was fresh off the box office smash Vampire in Brooklyn. Pictured in 2023
‘It was like, “Yo, how could you do that?” My career? Real? A joke about my career? So I thought that was a cheap comment. And it was a little bit, I thought – I thought it was racist,” he said in an interview with the New York Times. Spade pictured in 2022
“It hurt me. Most people who leave that show don’t go on and have great careers. It was personal,” said the Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F star
And while Murphy has forgiven Spade, he hasn’t forgotten what happened or how it made him feel, pictured at the June 2024 premiere of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
The Party All the Time singer was a regular member of the SNL cast from 1980 to 1984 and knew the process of how a joke ended up on air.
But Murphy didn’t return to Saturday Night Live for 20 years. He was on the 40th anniversary show in 2015.
“In the long run, it’s all good,” the Coming to America actor said.
‘It worked fine. I’m cool with David Spade. Cool with Lorne Michaels. I went back to SNL. I’m cool with everyone. It’s all love.’
Murphy returned as host of SNL in 2019.