David Spade Talks 'SNL'-Related Feud with Eddie Murphy in New Memoir
History was made when Eddie Murphy returned to Studio 8H for Saturday Night Live’s 40th anniversary special earlier this year, the first time in decades that the star appeared on the show that rocketed him to fame. Why did he stay away for so long? It looks like David Spade may be to blame. In an excerpt from Spade’s upcoming memoir, Almost Interesting (due in stores Oct. 27), that appeared on Salon today, Spade dishes on a joke he told at Murphy’s expense — a joke that made him persona non grata to the Beverly Hills Cop star for years. In the book, recalls being on the receiving end of a very angry phone call from Murphy: "David Spade, who the f— do you think you are?!! “Honestly? Who. The. F—. Going after ME?? You dumb motherf—er! I’m off-limits, don’t you know that? You wouldn’t have a job if it weren’t for me.”
The line that so offended Murphy came during Spade’s regular Hollywood Minute segment, where he would poke fun at various celebrities for the amusement of audiences and co-workers, who kept daring him to take on bigger and bigger targets. “[It was] my bread and butter and basically the only thing keeping me from going back out on the road doing shows at the Gut Busters in Omaha or working in the skateboard shop,” Spade writes. So he felt emboldened to ridicule an SNL legend like Murphy, who at that point had endured a string of failed movies that had caused his star power to dim. So Spade came up with a simple, but effective joke: as a picture of Murphy appeared in the background, he looked directly at the camera and said: “Look children, it’s a falling star — make a wish.” (You can watch the offending joke in the clip above.)
Spade’s joke met with “Oohs” and “Aaahs” from the studio audience, but that’s nothing compared to how his target reacted. Two days later, Spade was informed that Murphy was on the phone, demanding to talk to him. He tried to dodge the call, even enlisting his pal Chris Rock — who was also close with Murphy — to shield him from the actor’s wrath. But inevitably, he got on the line and received an earful. “It was so much worse than I had imagined. I wanted to apologize, explain the joke, anything, but nothing came out,” Spade writes. “Here was one of my favorite comedians of all time ripping me a new a–hole. I had worshipped this dude for years, knew every line of his stand-up. And now he hated me. Like, really really hated me. The opposite of Sally Field.”
In the ensuing fallout, Spade made a point of avoiding Murphy at public events like a Rolling Stones concert they both attended in Las Vegas. He also heard through the grapevine that his joke was one of the main reasons why Murphy cut himself off from SNL, believing the show had “turned on him.” Two decades later, though, it appears that hostilities are easing at last. Spade ends his story by recounting a recent encounter he had with Murphy that was cordial, if not necessarily chummy:
I was crossing the street in Beverly Hills and I saw a Mercedes Gullwing (a supernice car) parked in front of Coffee Bean. A black guy walked out with a hot blond chick on his arm and got in the car. … I realized it was Ed Murphy. Should I say something? We hadn’t spoken in almost twenty years at this point. Before I knew it, Murphy had spotted me through the windshield. Maybe he thought I was Miley Cyrus. Either way, for some reason I gave a half wave and quick nod. It was my equivalent of the white flag. This can be a risky move if it goes unreciprocated. Then I heard the sound of a window going down. Once again, I was paralyzed by doubt. Do I look? I looked. He stopped in the middle of the street and I walked over. Through the open passenger window he said, “Hey, Spade, how are you doing?” I reached in and shook his hand. I said, “Hey, Eddie. Glad we’re good.” “Take it easy,’” he said, and drove away with a girl young enough to be . . . well, my date. (She was superhot.)
See? Time really does heal all wounds. Even those between Not Ready for Primetime Players.
