Eddie Murphy Slammed David Spade's ‘Racist' 'Saturday Night Live' Joke Saying 'It Was a Cheap Shot’

In the 1990s, a joke on Saturday Night Live (SNL) caused a rift between two comedy giants. Eddie Murphy, in an interview published by the New York Times, said David Spade’s joke on SNL about his supposedly failing career came after Murphy’s 1995 horror spoof Vampire in Brooklyn had flopped at the box office. The hurtful joke was part of Spade’s Hollywood Minute sketch from December of that year on the late-night show, in which — after a photo of Murphy popped up on the screen — Spade said, “Look children, it’s a falling star. Make a wish.”

Murphy said he thought Spade’s barb was “a cheap shot” and “racist.” “This is Saturday Night Live. I’m the biggest thing that ever came off that show,” he said. “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?" Murphy's anger wasn't just about the joke itself. He was upset that SNL would allow it. "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."

He continued, "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.” Murphy felt singled out and betrayed by the show that had launched his career.

After the incident, Murphy stayed away from SNL for years and didn't return to the show for three decades. Spade, for his part, realized the impact of his words. In his 2015 memoir Almost Interesting, he wrote about the fallout. "I've come to see Eddie's point on this one," Spade admitted. He recognized how much a joke can sting, saying, "Everybody in showbiz wants people to like them. That’s how you get fans. But when you get reamed in a sketch or online or however, that shit staaaangs. And it can add up quickly."

Murphy also spoke about facing racism in the industry during the 1980s. He recalled dealing with unfair portrayals in the press. "You would do interviews, and you're like: 'I didn't say that. I don't talk that way,'" he explained. Despite the hurt, time has healed some wounds. Murphy has since made peace with Spade and SNL. "In the long run, it's all good," he told the New York Times. "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 did eventually return to SNL. He appeared in the show's 40th-anniversary special in 2015. In 2019, he came back as a host, marking a full circle moment, as per The Daily Mail.