From teenage stand-up phenom to Hollywood legend, Eddie Murphy opens up like never before in his new Netflix documentary Being Eddie and celebrated by electrifying the red carpet premeire. The film, which debuted Nov. 12, traces his rise from the comedy clubs of New York to global superstardom, with the actor reflecting on the highs, lows, and lessons of his four-decade career. Told with his trademark wit and candor, Murphy revisits defining moments, from his complicated history with Saturday Night Live to the controversial Oscars speech that nearly shook up Hollywood.
Robin Williams cautioned Eddie Murphy against sharing his iconic 1988 Oscars speech.
One of the most revealing parts of the documentary centers on Murphy’s 1988 Oscars appearance. Before presenting the Best Picture award, the Coming to America star used the spotlight to call out the Academy for its lack of recognition of Black performers. But as he recalls, not everyone agreed with his decision to speak out. Notably, the late great Robin Williams cautioned Murphy against it.
“I remember being with Robin Williams backstage. I was like, ‘I’m gonna say this.’ And he goes to me, like, ‘But why go there?’” Murphy, 64, told Entertainment Weekly while promoting Being Eddie on Nov. 11.
Williams wasn’t questioning the subject matter, Murphy says, but rather his delivery.
“I was like, ‘Oh, you don’t think it’s funny?’ It was more, is it funny? Rather than it’s controversial,” Murphy explains. “I was trying to be funny and say a little something, but be funny too. Have a little edge to what I said.”
Ignoring the advice, Murphy took the stage and delivered the now-famous speech before announcing The Last Emperor as Best Picture. He recalled that when his management first notified him about his invitation to the Oscars to present, he was ready to decline the offer.
“I’m not going because they haven’t recognized Black people in motion pictures,” he said, pointing out that only three Black actors — Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier, and Louis Gossett Jr. — had ever won Oscars at the time.
“And I’ll probably never win an Oscar for saying this, but hey, what the hey, I gotta say it,” Murphy continued. “Actually, I might not be in any trouble ’cause the way it’s been going is about every 20 years we get one, so we ain’t due to about 2004. So by that time, this will all be blown over.”
Recalling what he told his manager about accepting the invitation to present, Murphy shared that at the time, he hoped his speech would wake up the academy, helping them to recognize the talent of Black actors and actresses in the industry.
“So, I came down here to give the award. I said, ‘But I just feel that we have to be recognized as a people. I just want you to know I’m gonna give this award, but Black people will not ride the caboose of society, and we will not bring up the rear anymore. And I want you to recognize us.’”
Murphy now admits he wasn’t fully aware of how bold that speech would seem.
“I wasn’t thinking of the ramifications of it,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “I was just trying to be funny in the moment, and I wanted what I was saying to be relevant.”
The comic also noted in the documentary that, despite the strong message, his remarks didn’t get the attention he expected. But history may have proved his point — two years later, Denzel Washington won the Oscar for Glory. Murphy himself earned an Academy Award nomination in 2007 for Dreamgirls, though he lost to Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine.
Eddie Murphy also opens up about his decades-long grudge against SNL in Being Eddie.
In Being Eddie, Murphy also opens up about another major chapter in his life: his long estrangement from Saturday Night Live (SNL). The tension began in 1995 when SNL cast member David Spade made a jab at Murphy’s box-office flop, Vampire in Brooklyn, during a “Weekend Update” segment, quipping, “Look, children, it’s a falling star. Make a wish! You make a Hollywood Minute omelet, you break some eggs.”
The joke, Murphy says, cut deep — especially coming from a show that had launched his career. Murphy found fame on the hit comedy show as a cast member between 1980 and 1984, also helping to boost ratings for SNL, Variety noted.
According to the outlet, Murphy recalls in the documentary that he took the comment personally, as he had poured so much time and energy into the show during his four-year stint. He had previously called the joke “racist,” but clarifies in the film that his frustration was directed more at SNL as an institution than at Spade himself.
“My feelings was hurt….It’s like your alma mater taking a shot at you — at my career, not how funny I was, calling me ‘a falling star.’ If there was a joke like that right now, and it was about some other ‘SNL’ cast member, and it was about how fu—ked up their career was, it would get shot down,” he explained. “The joke had went through all of those channels that the joke has to go through, and then he was on the air saying, ‘Catch a falling star,’” Murphy continued. “So I wasn’t like, ‘F–k David Spade.’ I was like, ‘Oh, f–k “SNL.” F–k y’all. How y’all going to do this sh—t? That’s what y’all think of me? Oh, you dirty motherf–ers.’ I was like that. And that’s why I didn’t go back for years.”
Murphy’s career, of course, hardly ended there. After breaking box office records in the ’80s with classics like 48 Hrs., Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, and Coming to America, he cemented his status as one of the most influential comedians in Hollywood history with films like Harlem Nights (1989), The Nutty Professor (1996), and Shrek (2001).
Murphy kept his distance from SNL for many years, only making a brief appearance during the show’s 40th anniversary special in 2015 before fully returning as host for the 2019 Christmas episode.
“I was like, you know what? F–k this. ‘SNL’ is part of my history,” Murphy explained in the doc about his decision to return. “I need to reconnect with that show because that’s where I come from. That little friction that I had with ‘SNL’ was 35 years ago. I don’t have no smoke with no David Spade. I don’t have any heat or none of that with nobody.”
Eddie Murphy celebrated the documentary’s release on Wednesday with a star-studded list of attendees.
On Wednesday, Netflix marked the premiere of Being Eddie with a star-studded celebration at the TUDUM Theater in Los Angeles. Eddie Murphy and the film’s creative team were on hand to celebrate the occasion.
Among those in attendance were Eddie Murphy and his family, director Angus Wall, and producers John Davis, Charisse M. Hewitt-Webster, Kent Kubena, and Terry Leonard, according to a press release. The event also welcomed a host of special guests, including Martin Lawrence, Tracee Ellis Ross, Cedric the Entertainer, Kel Mitchell, Jerry Bruckheimer, Kim Fields, Lil Rel, Deon Cole, and many others.
See more photos on the flip.
