Eddie Murphy Details SNL Joke That Sparked Feud with David Spade

Eddie Murphy has been one of the biggest stars in Hollywood for decades with many beloved films under his belt such as Beverly Hills Cops , Coming To America , and Shrek . Murphy's rise to stardom began when he became a Saturday Night Live cast member in 1980. The comedian was a regular on the show for four years and played some iconic characters along the way, but it wasn't all smooth sailing. Murphy is currently busy promoting Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F , which hits Netflix next week. While chatting with The New York Times , Murphy opened up about his feud with another SNL alum, David Spade .

"Back in the old days, they used to be relentless on me, and a lot of it was racist stuff," Murphy shared when asked if he was ever treated unfairly by his co-stars, noting that at the time "there was no Black Hollywood. There was no rappers, hip-hop. It was the '80s." Murphy explained that it was a "whole different world" when he was starting out, but he shared that it hurt when Spade said "sh*t about my career" on Saturday Night Live a decade later (Spade joined the cast in 1990).

In a "Hollywood Minute" sketch in 1995, Spade showed a photo of Murphy before saying, "Look, children, it's a falling star. Make a wish."

"It was like: 'Yo, it's in-house!'" Murphy recalled. "I'm one of the family, and you're f*cking with me like that?' It hurt my feelings like that. ... It was like, 'Hey, hello. This is Saturday Night Live ,'" he continued. "I'm the biggest thing that ever came off that show. The show would've been off the air if I didn't go back on the show, and now you have somebody from the cast making a crack about my career?"

"I know that he can't just say that - a joke has to go through these channels - so the producers thought it was okay to say that," Murphy explained. "All the people that have been on that show, you've never heard nobody make no joke about anybody's career. Most people that get off that show, they don't go on and have these amazing careers. It was personal."

"It was like, 'Yo, how could you do that?' My career? Really? A joke about my career? So I thought that was a cheap shot. And it was kind of racist, I thought - I felt it was racist," he continued.

David Spade Addresses Eddie Murphy Feud:

In a 1997 interview with Entertainment Weekly , Spade addressed how the joke upset Murphy, but he didn't seem too remorseful. However, he did admit that he understood why Murphy was upset in his 2017, memoir, Almost Interesting .

"Chris Rock told me, 'Spade, Eddie's got his biggest movie in 10 years, a beautiful wife, and he still can't shake the fact that you took a swipe at him,'" he said at the time. "I said, 'Tell him three words that'll change his life: Let it go,'" Spade said in 1997.

"A jab like the one I had directed at Eddie can be the thing that starts to turn public opinion against someone," Spade wrote 20 years later. "I try not to think of the casualties when I do rough jokes, but there are consequences sometimes. I know for a fact that I can't take it when it comes my way. It's horrible for all the same reasons. I've come to see Eddie's point on this one. Everybody in showbiz wants people to like them. That's how you get fans. But when you get reamed in a sketch or online or however, that sh*t staaaangs."

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F arrives on Netflix July 3rd.