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Eddie Murphy is the GOAT. He’s the GOAT of SNL; he’s the GOAT of Black comedy; he’s probably the GOAT of all comedy in general. Which means even other famous people get super weird when they are around him. Eric Andre just recently told a story about everyone acting weird around Eddie Murphy when he showed up at Ted Sarandos’ party. This is a real thing that happens. In fact, his in-law Martin Lawrence even has a story about this.
Opening up in a speech at Netflix’s Eddie Murphy AFI achievement, Martin Lawrence got real about the first time he met the former SNL star. It was well before his daughter married Murphy’s son. At the time, he was just sort of becoming a known name in Hollywood for the first time. So, he ended up in the same room with Murphy, who shot him down hard.
I remember when I first came to California, I had the honor of meeting my idol, Eddie Murphy. Went up to his security, I said, 'Can I meet him? Can I just meet him? [I’m a] young comedian' and they said, 'Yeah, you can meet him.' And Eddie leaned over so cool, and I said, 'Eddie Murphy, I'm Martin Lawrence.’ I said, ‘Brotha, can I take a picture with you?' Eddie looked at me — so smooth and cool – and looked me in the eyes and said, 'No.' My face was cracked.
Eddie Murphy was already famous by the mid-eighties thanks to “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood” and other infamous SNL sketches. He joined the show at only 19, and now he’s about to become a grandad, so he’s legitimately been famous for more than 45 years. Lawrence is just a few years younger than Murphy, but he didn’t become famous until Martin broke big in 1992, and by then the other comedian had already broken very big with leading man movie roles like Beverly Hills Cop and Coming to America.
These days, Martin Lawrence feels comfortable bothering the other comedian as much as he wants, and his playful comment is giving me trolling vibes in the best way.
Now I can get all the pictures I want with him because we in-laws now, ain't that right, Eddie? That's right, that's right.
Now, Martin Lawrence is no slouch in the comedy department, but it’s clear he feels Murphy is on a totally different level. He even literally said as much a few months ago ahead of their kids getting married. When asked who was making the toasts, he admitted it should be Eddie Murphy, both ‘cause he’s funnier and because the Bad Boys star was worried about getting emotional. It's unclear if he deferred to his buddy when it came time to pick up the check too.
