The comedian recently opened up about the fallout from his infamous mid-1990s Saturday Night Live joke aimed at Eddie Murphy, admitting it created years of awkwardness and guilt — even though Murphy’s anger was ultimately directed at SNL, not Spade personally.
Speaking on his Fly on the Wall podcast with Dana Carvey, Spade described how surreal the situation felt. One moment he was a die-hard fan of Murphy, and the next he felt like he’d lost the respect of one of comedy’s biggest legends.
“It was weird going from being a super fan to having him hate me overnight,” Spade said. “And then trying to win him back for the last 25 years.”
The tension traces back to a Dec. 9, 1995 episode of Saturday Night Live, when Spade appeared on Weekend Update during his “Spade in America” segment. While poking fun at several celebrities, he landed on Murphy, whose movie Vampire in Brooklyn had recently underperformed at the box office.
Spade delivered the now-infamous line while sitting next to Murphy’s photo: “Look, children, it’s a falling star. Make a wish.”
The audience reaction was mixed — laughter combined with audible shock — but the joke struck a nerve. Murphy, whose groundbreaking run on SNL in the early 1980s is widely credited with saving the show from cancellation, was deeply hurt.
“It’s like your alma mater taking a shot at you,” Murphy later explained in his Netflix documentary Being Eddie. “My feelings was hurt.”
Murphy also questioned how such a joke made it to air at all, noting how many layers of approval SNL scripts typically go through. In his view, a joke that openly mocked a former cast member’s career would never pass today.
Spade admits the confrontation that followed was one-sided.
“He had it out,” Spade said. “I didn’t really fight back. I felt guilty. And he made some sense. I just didn’t like it — because he was a hero.”
The fallout was long-lasting. Murphy distanced himself from SNL for years, skipping the show’s 25th anniversary special in 1999 and not returning until the 40th anniversary in 2015. He finally hosted again in 2019, decades after the joke that soured his relationship with the show.
Ironically, the joke aged poorly. Murphy’s career rebounded almost immediately, beginning with The Nutty Professor in 1996 and continuing with hits like Dr. Dolittle, Daddy Day Care, the Shrek franchise, and his Oscar-nominated role in Dreamgirls.
Over time, the tension between Spade and Murphy eased. Spade says they’ve crossed paths a handful of times, including at the SNL 50th anniversary celebration in February 2025.
“I walked past him and he blocked me with his arm, so I had to say hi and give him a hug,” Spade recalled. “He was super cool. We’re all good.”
Murphy has since confirmed the same, saying there’s no bad blood left.
Even SNL creator Lorne Michaels later acknowledged that approving the joke was a mistake. “I didn’t really think about it,” he admitted in 2013. “But Eddie did.”
Today, Spade looks back on the moment as a hard lesson learned — one that followed him for years but ultimately ended in peace.
“It’s over,” he said. “We’re all good.”
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