Yahoo readers react after Eddie Murphy says his old jokes about gay people make him 'cringe'
Eddie Murphy will always be remembered for his hilarious impressions, hit movies, and star-making turn on Saturday Night Live, but there’s one thing he may want people to forget: his old stand-up jokes mocking gay people.
During his 1983 stand-up special Delirious, the comedian said, “I’m afraid of gay people.”
Objections to the material followed Murphy into the next decade, and he issued a statement in 1996 apologizing for the routine, saying in part: “I deeply regret any pain all this has caused.”
Murphy recently sat down with CBS Sunday Morning and was asked what he thinks about his controversial jokes today.
“Some of it, I cringe when I watch them,” said Murphy. “I say, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe I said that,’” he added.
Murphy continued, “That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate it — I still appreciate it, and I’m looking at it within the context of the times, you know. I’m going, ‘I’m a kid saying that.’”
Yahoo readers weighed in on Murphy’s comments, with one saying they were glad to see the comedian learning from his past mistakes:
Another reader, Jon, says Murphy is right that the context of the original joke is important to take into consideration:
Mike writes that the comedian shouldn’t have ever apologized in the first place:
But another wasn’t so forgiving, and said Murphy’s comments weren’t sincere:
And one reader wasn’t buying what the Shrek star was selling:
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