In aĀ new revealingĀ interview with the Washington Post, Eddie Murphy tackledĀ āĀ among other hot topics ā a question that has been on everyoneās minds since his appearance at Saturday Night Liveās 40th-anniversary show: Why didnāt he perform during the three-hour extravaganza, and instead opt for anĀ awkwardĀ and extremely brief āthank youā speech before throwing to a commercial break? The answer, it was later revealed, was becauseĀ the show wanted him to play Bill Cosby, andĀ Murphy simply wasnāt going to do it.
āI totally understood,āĀ he said,Ā addressingĀ the situationĀ for the first time. āIt was the biggest thing in the news at the time. I can see why they thought it would be funny, and the sketch that Norm [Macdonald] wrote was hysterical.ā Why did he say no, then? āItās horrible,āĀ he continued.Ā āThereās nothing funny about it. If you get up there and you crack jokes about him, youāre just hurting people. Youāre hurting him. Youāre hurting his accusers. I was like, āHey, Iām coming back to SNL for the anniversary, Iām not turning my moment on the show into this other thing.āā
Murphy, who hasnātĀ done a stand-up act in 29 years,Ā also touched on whether he sees himself coming out of pseudo-retirement and returning to the stage. āThatās the carrot,ā he said. āEvery now and then when I think about it, I think, What would I even talk about onstage? Itās never been, I wonder if Iām funny. I wonder if I can come up with jokes. Itās more, What would it be like without the leather suit and the anger?ā Still hilarious, probably.