Saturday Night Live has been a pillar of American comedy since the mid-70s. When 19-year-old Eddie Murphy joined the cast from 1980-1985, many said those were the best seasons of SNL.
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After his departure, Murphy starred in box-buster movies like “Coming to America” and “Mulan.” Although Murphy was a stand-up comedian before SNL, he admits the show helped propel his career on the big screen.
“I had a blast up here,” Murphy recalled during a 2020 SNL interview. “There isn’t a better place for me to have been than here.”
So why did it take him 20 years to return to SNL? There has been much speculation over the years, but in a recent interview with the New York Times, Murphy said David Spade’s 1995 joke about him was the cause.
Spade became a member of SNL in 1990 — well after Murphy left, but in 1995, as part of his “Hollywood Minute” sketch, Spade said laughing next to a photo of Murphy “Look children, it’s a falling star. Make a wish.”
Spade’s jab directly followed the release of the film, “Vampire in Brooklyn,” starring Murphy alongside Angela Bassett, which tanked in theaters.
Murphy did not take light to Spade’s comment about his career. In fact, Murphy told the New York Times “‘I’m one of the family, and you’re f–king with me like that?’ It hurt my feelings like that.”
According to Murphy, it wasn’t just about a fellow SNL cast member making an insensitive joke about him. “I know that he can’t just say that,” Murphy said. “A joke has to go through channels, so the producers thought it was okay to say that. And all the people that have been on the show, you’ve never heard nobody make a joke about anybody’s career.”
Murphy called the joke a “cheap shot,” and although he did not further explain, he said there was racist intent behind it.
After the episode aired, Spade said the “Harlem Nights” star called and let him have it! In his 2015 memoir, Spade wrote how Murphy “hated” him, and it wasn’t until 20 years after his “stupid joke” that the pair cut the tension and squashed the beef.
Unfortunately for fans, this meant Murphy would not return to SNL until the show’s 40th anniversary in 2015. Since then, Murphy has also hosted the show in 2019.
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