Eddie Murphy calls out colleague David Spade; says his SNL Joke about him is ‘racist’

Eddie Murphy is calling out fellow “Saturday Night Live” alum David Spade, reflecting on how a joke Spade made about his career left him deeply angry and suggesting it had racist undertones.

In a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times published Saturday, June 29, Murphy discussed a “Weekend Update” segment from December 1995, where Spade made a joke about Murphy. In the clip, a picture of Murphy appears, and Spade quips about seeing a “falling star,” a jab that came shortly after Murphy’s movie “Vampire in Brooklyn” flopped at the box office.

Murphy told the NYT that the joke hurt particularly because he had been one of SNL’s biggest stars, suggesting the show wouldn’t have survived without his contributions. He also noted that Spade wasn’t the only one who approved the joke since producers review everything before it airs, making him feel like the entire institution was targeting him.

Murphy explained he felt the joke was a personal attack, saying, “I thought that was a cheap shot. And it was kind of, I thought — I felt it was racist.”

Although Murphy didn’t elaborate on why he found the joke racist, he admitted it kept him away from SNL for decades until he returned for the show’s 40th anniversary in 2015.

For what it’s worth, Murphy says he’s now on good terms with both Lorne Michaels and Spade, even hosting SNL again in 2019 to rave reviews.