We’ve seen several instances over Saturday Night Live’s 50 years when a sketch or segment perhaps went too far and ended up upsetting someone. One of the most recent examples saw Aimee Lou Wood speaking out about the parody that mocked her appearance. One of the most infamous instances, however, involved David Spade dissing Eddie Murphy. Now, the Tommy Boy star opened up recently about where he and Murphy stand.
David Spade addressed the issue with fellow SNL alum Dana Carvey on their Fly on the Wall podcast. Eddie Murphy’s grudge against NBC’s sketch comedy began making headlines again with the release of the documentary Being Eddie (available to stream with a Netflix subscription), and Spade acknowledged his role in it, saying:
I do love Eddie Murphy. We had some bumps in the road along the way, early on. It was weird going from being a super fan to having him hate me overnight, and to try to win him back for the last 25 years.
So what exactly happened?
David Spade used to host a segment on Saturday Night Live called “Spade in America,” where he would make Hollywood-related jokes. In December 1995, one of those cracks involved Eddie Murphy after his horror comedy Vampire in Brooklyn bombed at the box office. After a graphic of Murphy was shown on the screen, Spade said, “Look, children. It’s a falling star. Make a wish.”
As an alum of SNL himself, Eddie Murphy took offense at the jab at his career, and David Spade said the two spoke about it on the phone afterward, recalling:
I was on Weekend Update on SNL, new to the show, making fun of all the celebrities, and it didn’t go well. And he called me and we had it out. Actually, he had it out. I didn't fight back really, because I did feel a little guilty about it, and he did make some sense. I just didn't like that because he was a hero.
David Spade has admitted in the past that he regrets making the joke, and it seems time has done a lot to heal things on Eddie Murphy’s side, too. Murphy returned for SNL’S 40th and 50th anniversary shows — the latest of which he called “a trip” to be amongst so many legends — and has served as the host, as well, on the show that made him a superstar.
The Joe Dirt star confirmed everything is copasetic between him and Eddie Murphy now, concluding:
I’ve seen him once or twice, and I saw him at [SNL 50]. We talked a little bit and everything's fine, and then he admitted on the show — not admitted, they just asked him about it — and he said, ‘Yeah, we're all good.’ So we're all good.
In Being Eddie, the comedian said he always put more of the blame for that SNL diss on the show itself and not David Spade. He admitted that his feelings were hurt that his “alma mater” would take a shot at his career like that, but says he “wasn’t like, ‘Fuck David Spade.’”
It’s good to hear from both sides of the issue that it’s all water under the bridge.
Saturday Night Live will resume on the 2026 TV schedule, with Finn Wolfhard set to host January 17 with musical guest A$AP Rocky. Stay tuned for the rest of SNL’s Season 51 hosts and musical guests to come.
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