Eddie Murphy explains why being mocked on ‘SNL’ had a ‘racist’ side

Eddie Murphy hasn’t forgotten how “Saturday Night Live” once poked fun at a difficult moment in his career.

The “Beverly Hills Cop” actor reflected on his relationship with the popular sketch comedy series during an episode of The New York Times podcast “The Interview” over the weekend, recalling how a joke about him felt like a “low blow” with “racist” innuendo.

During a sketch called “Hollywood Minute” that aired in December 1995, “SNL” cast member David Spade mocked Murphy’s box office fiasco of that year’s “Vampire in Brooklyn.” , and showed a photo of the comedian on screen, saying: “Listen, kids, he’s a shooting star. Make a wish.”

Murphy, who spent four years on “SNL” in the ’80s, told the Times he felt like that crack was completely out of place.

“It was like, ‘Hey, this is internal! I’m family, and you’re making fun of me like this?’ It hurt me like that,” he said.

The “Raw” comic found the passage particularly disrespectful, given that he is credited with reviving much of the sketch show’s luster over its four-season run.

“I’m the most important thing that’s come out of that show,” Murphy said. “The show would have been canceled if I hadn’t come back on the show, and now someone on the cast is making fun of my career? And I know he can’t just say that.”

“A joke has to go through those channels,” he continued. “So the producers thought it was okay to say that. And all the people that have been on that show, you’ve never heard anyone make a joke about anyone’s career. … It was personal. It was like, ‘Yo, how could you do that?’ My career? Really? A joke about my career? So I thought it was a low blow. And it was a little racist.”

Although Murphy told the Times he eventually turned his back on “SNL” for nearly three decades, he eventually accepted the joke.

“In the long run it’s all good, it’s gone very well. I’m cool with David Spade, I’m cool with Lorne Michaels,” he said, noting how he returned for the show’s 40th anniversary in 2015 and again to host in 2019.

“It’s love, but I’ve had a few low blows,” Murphy added.