Eddie Murphy Reveals Why He Refused to Parody Bill Cosby for ‘SNL’ 40th Show

Enough time has passed since the epic celebration that was televised earlier this year in recognition of Saturday Night Live’s 40^th anniversary.

Comedian and actor Eddie Murphy who began his enviable career on the show back in the early 80’s perfected his impressions of everyone from Bill Cosby to James Brown – the latter won him undying praise and is still the funniest skit ever produced.

But a lot can happen as the years pile up and Murphy eventually exited the long running staple to funnel his ability to be a movie star – an endeavor that he achieved beyond measure except for a couple of misses which were infamously mocked by former cast member David Spade. Murphy never forgave the show for putting him on blast and the bad blood still remains which fueled rumors that he could possibly bow out from the TV extravaganza.

But Murphy did make a brief appearance and it was clear that he made it happen on his terms. Which explains why despite pleas from his former colleagues including Norm MacDonald who curated a sketch just for Murphy – that was meant to mock Cosby who was already knee deep in the sexual abuse scandal that continues to cripple him – Murphy stuck to his guns and refused to indulge.

The publicly brutalized statesman who used to be fondly revered as “America’s Most Favorite Dad” later thanked the Beverly Hills Cop star for refusing to mock him for the sake of entertainment.

Murphy for his part hasn’t stated whether or not he believes the embattled comedian is innocent or guilty but when addressing the issue recently with The Washington Post – his reasons for not doing the skit seemed to hinder on his need to be humanly considerate for all the parties involved.

“It’s horrible”. “There’s nothing funny about it. If you get up there and you crack jokes about him, you’re just hurting people. You’re hurting him. You’re hurting his accusers. I was like, ‘Hey, I’m coming back to SNL ‘ for the anniversary, I’m not turning my moment on the show into this other thing”.

Murphy absolutely did what most in his position would have failed to do – which is to turn down another opportunity for a star-making performance at the expense of someone who most felt deserved to be ridiculed.

MacDonald acknowledged this fact on Twitter, a few days later – “He will not kick a man when he is down”. “Eddie Murphy, I realize is not like the rest of us. Eddie does not need the laughs”.