“Being Eddie” just dropped on Netflix and it explores the legendary comedian’s rise to fame, the challenges he’s faced in the industry and what he might have up his sleeve for his fans in the next few years — but it’s also full of entertaining anecdotes and shocking stories from Murphy’s career.
Much of the documentary is filled with previously told stories like how Murphy replaced Richard Pryor in films like “Trading Places,” and how he turned down cocaine while hanging out with Robin Williams and John Belushi. But the iconic star also shares new stories about his struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and he even gives an update on his wild story about late actor Yul Brynner supposedly offering him an opportunity to have sex with his wife at the time.
In addition, Murphy candidly speaks about his biological father’s murder that Murphy’s late brother Charlie Murphy shares was the result of a “lover’s quarrel.” And he opens up about how his stepfather shaped him into the man he is today.
The documentary features interviews from longtime comedians and friends of Murphy’s like Arsenio Hall, Dave Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler and more, as Murphy laughs his way through his career.
Check out the biggest revelations from the documentary below.
Eddie Murphy has a photo of him punching Muhammad Ali in the face
Throughout the documentary, Eddie Murphy reflects on the entertainment giants he knew and admired. One of them was his “hero,” boxing legend Muhammed Ali. As Murphy shows personal photos around his house, he points out one of him and Ali. In the photo, Murphy is punching Ali, who looks to be around late 50s, with his right arm.
“Ali is my hero, but I did punch him in the face one night,” Murphy explains in the doc. “You know Ali, he talks some s—t, and every now and again Ali talks too much shit. I punched him in his face.”
He corrects longtime “Beverly Hills Cop” street scene theory
While discussing “what a life” he’s had, Eddie Murphy corrects the longtime Hollywood theory that he was laughing at his “Delirious” outfit during his sidewalk scene in “Beverly Hills Cop.” Murphy’s bright red, leather “Delirious” outfit stirred up chatter after the success of his stand-up show, so much so that director John Landis made it an Easter Egg in the 1984 cop film.
In the scene, Murphy sees two men walking down the street, and once they walk past him, he starts laughing. Many thought it was him laughing at his old taste in clothing, but Murphy explains that it was actually one of the actors making a silly face at him as they passed by.
“That’s not what’s happening at all; I’m not laughing at me,” Murphy said. “As he walked passed, he made like a weird face, and I was laughing at the face he made. I wasn’t laughing at me.”
He regrets not accepting Yul Brynner’s offer to sleep with his wife
During Murphy’s 21st birthday, the comedian says legendary actor Yul Brynner propositioned him to come “party” with him and his wife at his apartment. Years later, Murphy shares that he realized “The King and I” star was propositioning him to have sex with his wife, whom he didn’t name. Murphy said he turned down the offer at the time, but now regrets doing so.
“Now, I wish I would have went,” Murphy said. “The story would end better if, ‘Yeah, I went back to Yul Brynner’s apartment and f—ked his wife, and he was watching f—k, saying, “etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.”
He recalls rejecting cocaine while with Robin Williams and John Belushi
Murphy shares that drugs and alcohol were around him constantly during his rise to fame, but he always remained clean. He recalls turning down Robin Williams and John Belushi.
“They put some blow on the table, and I’m standing there with two heroes. I wasn’t even curious,” Murphy explained. “I was just not with it. I’ve never even tried cocaine or touched cocaine or some shit like that. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke cigarettes. I never smoked a joint ’til I was 30 years old.”
Arsenio Hall says Eddie Murphy has written new stand-up material
Murphy’s longtime friend Arsenio Hall said Murphy continues to craft new material for a stand-up return.
“Eddie never stops creating,” Hall said. “I walk through his house, and I see stuff written on pads, so I’m like, ‘He’s thinking about it.”
Murphy said he often records bits on his phone when a new idea comes to his mind.
“Over the years I got so much stuff, so many things that’s like, all I have to do is go through my phone and, ‘Oh yeah, that would be a good bit,” Murphy said. So it wouldn’t be hard to do.”
Murphy remembers realizing he had symptoms of OCD as a child
While reflecting on his childhood, Murphy remembered when he learned that he may have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). At the time, the comedian was sharing how he used to repeatedly check his childhood home’s stove to make sure the gas was off. But after seeing on the news that OCD was a mental illness, he “forced” himself to break away from his compulsions.
“I made myself stop doing it,” Murphy said. “‘Mental illness my ass.’ I forced myself to stop doing it.”
Even though he still checks the gas every night, sometimes he’ll check it twice.
He reflects on “SNL”-David Spade joke
Murphy shared that one of the reasons he refused to return to “Saturday Night Live” was because of David Spade’s “falling star” joke during the show’s “Spade in America” segment.
“I was hurt, my feelings were hurt,” Murphy said. “I wasn’t like, ‘F—k David Spade,’ I was like, ‘F—k ‘SNL.’ ‘F—k y’all. How y’all gon’ do this s—t.’”
But when discussing his 2019 comeback, he said he has no “smoke” against Spade.
“That little friction I had with ‘SNL’ was 35 years ago. I don’t have no smoke with no David Spade. I don’t have any heat or any of that with nobody.”
Michael Che says Eddie Murphy’s “SNL” return was the most “tense” start to a show ever
After more than three decades, Murphy finally made his return to “Saturday Night Live” in 2019, marking “SNL” star Michael Che’s most nerve-wracking episode because he didn’t want to fail the comedy legend.
“The Eddie Murphy show was the most tense start to a show I’ve ever been a part of,” Che said. “It was, like, scary almost. This had to go well, and we would be letting down Eddie Murphy if it was bad.”
He gets vulnerable about his brother Charlie Murphy
“Being Eddie” weaves in interviews with his older brother Charlie Murphy, who died of leukemia in 2017, throughout the documentary. At one point, Murphy candidly says, “there’s nobody like Charlie,” and no one “funnier,” sharing that Charlie even gave him the biggest laughs in his life. The comedian then briefly goes silent before sharing that he misses his brother.
“Yeah, I miss my brother,” Murphy said, adding that he tries not to wallow on the subject of death or those he’s lost. “I just touch little memories. I don’t be going and wallowing in it.”
He says he’d be open to doing stand-up again, shares his puppet bit
Murphy hasn’t done a stand-up show or special since his 1987 special “Raw,” but he said there’s a chance he’d back up the microphone if he felt so inclined.
“If it struck me one day, I would do it again,” Murphy said.
Earlier in the documentary, Murphy shared that if he did do another comedy show, he’d incorporate puppets made to look like Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby.
“And sit in and have them on the side, have like a conversation between the two, and be in the middle,” Murphy said. “I give at least 10 good minutes of jokes out of that.”
He even breaks into some of the jokes at the end of the documentary after being given ventriloquist dolls of Pryor and Cosby, which he adds with his Paul Mooney doll.
“Did you put that pill in that chocolate”? Murphy asks his Cosby dummy.
“‘Now, see how you gon’ ask me did I put the pill in the chocolate, when you know that I put the pill in the chocolate!’” Murphy responds as Cosby.
“‘I put the pill in my mouth — motha— f—k the chocolate,’” Murphy says as Pryor.
“‘This n—a has lost his mind.’ That’s what Mooney would say,” Murphy jokes. “‘In the documentary he broke out three n—a puppets. N—a, I spun around in my grave.’”
