Summary
Beverly Hills Cop 4star Eddie Murphy recalls the “cheap shot” joke made at his expense bySNL’s David Spade, saying the experience “hurt his feelings.” Murphy debuted onSNLin 1980 at the age of 19, and quickly rose to become the most popular cast member on the sketch comedy series. Murphy is indeed credited with keeping the show afloat during relatively lean years, but by 1984, with his movie career taking off thanks to hits like48 Hrs.andTrading Places, he was ready to move on.
Murphy famously stayed away fromSNLfor decades after his 1984 departure, and in a recentNew York Timesinterview, he talked about the “cheap shot” - and maybe even racist - joke that contributed to his long estrangement from the show. Murphy recalls being hurt by a quip from then-cast-member Spade about his flop movieVampire in Brooklyn, and aiming some of his ire atSNLproducers, who had to have signed off on the joke before it hit the air. Check out Murphy’s remarks below:
When David Spade said that [expletive] about my career on SNL, it was like: “Yo, it’s in-house! I’m one of the family, and you’re [expletive] with me like that?” It hurt my feelings like that, yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no. One movie. “Vampire in Brooklyn.” It came out and had flopped. He showed a picture of me, and he said, “Hey, everybody, catch a falling star.” It was like: Wait, hold on. 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. A joke has to go through these channels. So the producers thought it was OK to say that. And all the people that have been on that show, you’ve never heard nobody make no joke about anybody’s career. Most people that get off that show, they don’t go on and have these amazing careers. It was personal. It was like, “Yo, how could you do that?” My career? Really? A joke about my career? So I thought that was a cheap shot. And it was kind of, I thought — I felt it was racist. Thirty years [I stayed away from the show]. In the long run, it’s all good. Worked out great. I’m cool with David Spade. Cool with Lorne Michaels. I went back to SNL. I’m cool with everybody. It’s all love.
Murphy’s SNL Return Set The Stage For His Recent Comedy Resurgence
Murphy’s decades-long feud withSNLbecame a major part of his career narrative, so it was a big deal when, in 2019, he finally returned to host. With Murphy back in the fold, doing updated versions of his famousSNLcharactersGumby, Mr. Robinson and Velvet Jones, thatSNLepisode got major ratings, and more importantly, acted as a springboard for Murphy to revive his career as a comedy star.
Building on the momentum from hisSNLreturn, Murphy hooked up with Netflix for another long-delayed revisit, the nostalgic 2021 comedyComing 2 America. Murphy is now set to dip into his past again for another long-awaited sequel, the Netflix movieBeverly Hills Cop: Axel F, which is set to premiere on July 3.
The horror-comedyVampire in Brooklyngrossed just $35 million in 1995
Murphy’sSNLreturn signaled a willingness to revisit his past, after a long period in which he seemed to avoid drawing upon or referencing his early work. It may be true that Murphy was hurt by Spade’sSNLjoke, but it may also be true that once his career momentum began flagging in the late 2010s, he saw a compelling reason to let bygones be bygones. Whatever prompted his decision to forgiveSNL, the move was a good one, as it gave Murphy’s career a boost, allowing him to pair with Netflix and begin a new, nostalgic phase.
SNL: 1975
Cast
SNL 1975 explores the tumultuous moments behind the scenes leading up to the inaugural live broadcast of Saturday Night Live on August 04, 2025. The film details the efforts of the young comedians and writers involved, capturing the chaotic atmosphere and pivotal events of that landmark night in television history.
