Chris Rock, David Spade, and Eddie Murphy at the “Death at a Funeral” premiere on April 12, 2010.Eric Charbonneau/Le Studio/Wireimage
Eddie Murphy hasn’t forgotten how David Spade treated him in the 1990s.
The “Shrek” star told the New York Times that the two comedians had a falling out after Spade, 59, made a joke about Murphy on “Saturday Night Live” that Murphy felt was “racist.”
In 1995, Spade did a sketch called “Hollywood Minute” where he showed a picture of Murphy, whose horror movie “Vampire in Brooklyn” bombed at the box office, and said: “Look, 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren, it’s a falling star. Make a wish.”
David Spade on “SNL” in 1995.NBC/Saturday Night Live
David Spade makes fun of Eddie Murphy.NBC/Saturday Night Live
In the NYT interview released Saturday, Murphy admitted he was taken aback by Spade’s comment at the time.
“It was like: ‘Yo, it’s in-house! I’m one of the family, and you’re f–king with me like that?’ It hurt my feelings like that,” he said.
“This is ‘Saturday Night Live.’ I’m the biggest thing that ever came off that show,” Murphy continued. “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? 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. And all the people that have been on that show, you’ve never heard nobody make no joke about anybody’s career.”
Eddie Murphy at the “Candy Cane Lane” premiere on Nov. 28, 2023.AFP via Getty Images
Murphy added: “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.”
However, Murphy said that he and Spade are “cool” today.
“In the long run, it’s all good,” he told the NYT. “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.”
The Post has reached out to Spade’s rep for comment.
David Spade at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.Getty Images for Vanity Fair
Spade addressed Murphy’s reaction to the joke in a 1997 interview with Entertainment Weekly.
“Chris Rock told me, ‘Spade, Eddie’s got his biggest movie in 10 years, a beautiful wife, and he still can’t shake the fact that you took a swipe at him. ‘I said, ‘Tell him three words that’ll change his life: Let it go,’ ” Spade recalled.
The “Grown Ups” star revealed in his 2015 memoir, “Almost Interesting,” that he eventually understood why Murphy was upset by the joke.
“I try not to think of the casualties when I do rough jokes, but there are consequences sometimes,” Spade said in the book. “I know for a fact that I can’t take it when it comes my way. It’s horrible for all the same reasons. I’ve come to see Eddie’s point on this one.”
Eddie Murphy at the “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” premiere on June 20, 2024.Getty Images
“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,” he added.
The two comdians were never on “SNL” at the same time.
Murphy starred on the show from 1980 to 1984.
Spade joined the show in 1990 and left six years later.
