In a recent interview with The New York Times, Eddie Murphy discussed some of the “cheap shots” he endured while navigating his career. Murphy specifically called out a 1995 Saturday Night Live “Hollywood Minute” sketch featuring David Spade. In the sketch, Spade showed a picture of Murphy and said, “Look, children, it’s a falling star. Make a wish.” At the time, Spade's joke was a response to Murphy's film Vampire in Brooklyn tanking at the box office.
Murphy told the Times that Spade’s jab felt "racist" and like a "cheap shot". Murphy felt the joke was "personal" because he believes he is the "biggest thing that ever came off that show" and that SNL "would've been off the air" without him. He also stated that most people who leave the show don't go on to have "amazing careers".
This joke impacted Murphy because it was an "in-house" attack from someone he considered "family". He was also upset that SNL producers greenlit the joke. In 1997, Spade told Entertainment Weekly that Chris Rock relayed a message to him from Murphy that boiled down to “Let it go". However, in his 2015 memoir, Almost Interesting, Spade admitted that he understood why Murphy was upset, writing: “A jab like the one I had directed at Eddie can be the thing that starts to turn public opinion against someone... I’ve come to see Eddie’s point on this one.” Despite the feud, Murphy told the Times that he and Spade are now on good terms and that “in the long run it’s all good, worked out great".