Eddie Murphy’s horror film, ‘Vampire in Brooklyn,’ flopped at the box office in 1995. David Spade joked about this on a ‘Saturday Night Live’ episode that year by pointing at the actor’s photo and saying, ‘Look children, it’s a falling star. Make a wish.’
Murphy commented on the sketch in a chat with The New York Times by saying:
“This is ‘Saturday Night Live.’ I’m the biggest thing that ever came off that show. 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.”
He explained:
“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.”
Spade Felt Bad Over The Joke As Well
David Spade revealed in his 2015 memoir, ‘Almost Interesting,’ that Eddie Murphy gave him an angry call after the sketch. He also mentioned feeling terrible due to his ‘stupid joke.’ His words went:
“I try not to think of the casualties when I do rough jokes, but there are consequences sometimes. 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. 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 stayed away from ‘SNL’ for 30 years following this incident. He returned for the show’s 40th anniversary special in 2015 and hosted in 2019, though. The actor noted that his current relationship with Spade was ‘cool.’
Murphy will be back on screen in ‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ on July 3.
