Eddie Murphy said Robin Williams questioned his speech about the Oscars’ history of slighting Black actors during the 1988 Academy Awards ceremony.
Murphy was presenting the award for Best Picture and had written a bit that pointed out the rarity of Black performers winning in the acting categories, noting only three had won to that point. (The number is now in the 20s.)
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“I remember being with Robin Williams backstage,” Murphy told Entertainment Weekly in a story published Tuesday. “I was like, ‘I’m gonna say this.’ And he goes to me, like, ‘But why go there?’”
Murphy was already a star from “Saturday Night Live” and “Beverly Hills Cop,” so his words could carry heft. It wasn’t the intent that bothered Williams, apparently; it was that the protest didn’t pack enough laughs, according to the “Coming to America” star.
“I was like, ‘Oh, you don’t think it’s funny?’ It was more, is it funny? Rather than it’s controversial,” Murphy explained. “I was trying to be funny and say a little something, but be funny too. Have a little edge to what I said.”
Despite the advice from Williams, who died in 2014, Murphy went on with his speech that evening anyway, and it did get laughs as he drove home his point.
In the setup, he did an impression of his white manager when he told him he didn’t want to accept the Academy presentation invite out of protest.
“And I’ll probably never win an Oscar for saying this, but hey, what the hey, I gotta say it,” he continued. “Actually, I might not be in any trouble ’cause the way it’s been going is about every 20 years we get one, so we ain’t due to about 2004. So by that time, this will all be blown over.”
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The comedian added, “So I came down here to give the award. I said, ‘But I just feel that we have to be recognized as a people. I just want you to know I’m gonna give this award, but Black people will not ride the caboose of society, and we will not bring up the rear anymore. And I want you to recognize us.’”
Murphy wrung out a final laugh when he remembered that his manager told him he didn’t have to get to the Oscars until 10 p.m. because Best Picture was the last award of the night. In other words, the caboose end of the show.
Murphy eventually announced “The Last Emperor” as the winner.
The 64-year-old’s life is being examined in a Netflix documentary that started streaming on Wednesday, “Being Eddie.”
Eddie Murphy, left, and Robin Williams, middle, with Joe Piscopo, right, on a 1984 “Saturday Night Live” episode. via Associated Press
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