Netflix's Eddie Murphy documentary explains 'Saturday Night Live' beef: 'That's why I didn't go back for years'
Netflix’s new Eddie Murphy documentary, Being Eddie , chronicles the prolific comedian’s ascent to stardom — as well as some low points in his career, including the fallout from a hurtful joke that kept him away from Saturday Night Live for years.
Murphy skyrocketed to fame after joining the cast of SNL in 1980 at 19 years old, before moving on to a successful career in film with movies like Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop . However, he failed to secure a hit with the 1995 film Vampire in Brooklyn .
David Spade, an SNL cast member at the time, mocked the movie's lack of success with a joke aimed at Murphy. “Look children, it's a falling star. Make a wish,” he said.
Murphy likened the comment to “your alma mater taking a shot at you.” He said it was particularly hurtful because it insulted his career. “If there was a joke like that right now, and it was about some other SNL cast member, and it was about how f****d up their career was, it would be shot down. The producers would look at it [and say] ‘You’re not saying that joke.’”
Murphy said he didn’t blame Spade, specifically, for making the joke, as he knew that it had to go through multiple channels at SNL to get on-air. Instead, he remembered thinking, “‘F*** SNL , f*** y’all. How y’all gonna do this s***? That’s what y’all think of me? ... And that’s why I didn’t go back for years.”
