Eddie Murphy Says He’s Gotten Over His Grudge Against ‘Saturday Night Live’

When Ben Stiller hosted "Saturday Night Live" a few weeks ago, it was rumored that his appearance might be complemented with a surprise cameo from his "Tower Heist" co-star, Eddie Murphy. It might seem like a safe guess for TV pundits to make: After all, Murphy (like Stiller) is an "SNL" alumnus. But Murphy hadn't darkened the door of Studio 8H in years — reportedly due to a Weekend Update joke from David Spade. However, in a new interview timed to the release of "Tower Heist," Murphy comments on that rumored grudge — and asserts that he's over it.
Rolling Stone has published an early tease of its upcoming cover story on Murphy, in which the star talks about (among other things) his recent run of family-oriented films, his last Oscar nomination, and his possible return to standup comedy. The profile's author, Brian Hiatt, also raises the question of Murphy's abstention from "SNL" over the past couple of decades, to which Murphy responds by confirming that he did bear the show a grudge.

They were s***ty to me on Saturday Night Live a couple of times after I'd left the show....They said some s***ty things. There was that David Spade sketch [when Spade showed a picture of Murphy around the time of Vampire In Brooklyn and said, 'Look, children, a falling star']. I made a stink about it, it became part of the folklore. What really irritated me about it at the time was that it was a career shot.

And now? Hiatt quotes Murphy as saying, "I felt s***ty about it for years, but now, I don't have none of that."

It's probably overstating Murphy's feeling on the subject — judging by this excerpt, at least — to say he'd be open to hosting "SNL" again, but we'll have to wait for the full story to hit newsstands and the web, on October 28, to know for sure.