Bill Cosby’s publicist calls Eddie Murphy a ‘Hollywood slave’ after SNL joke
Murphy had made a joke at the disgraced star’s expense on the US sketch show
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Your support makes all the difference.Bill Cosby’s publicist has called Eddie Murphy a “Hollywood slave” who has yet to “leave the plantation”, after he made a joke about the disgraced star in a Saturday Night Live monologue.
On Saturday (21 December), Murphy joked: “If you would have told me 30 years ago that I would be this boring, stay-at-home... dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail, even I would have took that bet.”
Murphy then did a Cosby impression, asking: “Who is America’s Dad now?”
While the joke received a rapturous response from the SNL audience, Cosby’s publicist Andrew Wyatt condemned Murphy in a statement, claiming that the star was “cooning” and participating in “the destruction of black men in Hollywood”.
“Mr Cosby became the first black to win an Emmy for his role in I Spy, and Mr Cosby broke colour barriers in the entertainment industry, so that blacks like Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappell [sic], Kevin Hart and et al, could have an opportunity to showcase their talents for many generations to come,” Wyatt’s statement began.
“It is sad that Mr Murphy would take this glorious moment of returning to SNL and make disparaging remarks against Mr Cosby. One would think that Mr Murphy was given his freedom to leave the plantation, so that he could make his own decisions; but he decided to sell himself back to being a Hollywood slave.
He continued, “Stepin Fetchit plus cooning equals the destruction of black men in Hollywood. Remember, Mr Murphy, that Bill Cosby became legendary because he used comedy to humanise all races, religions and genders; but your attacking Mr Cosby helps you embark on just becoming click bait.
“Hopefully, you will be amenable to having a meeting of the minds conversation, in order to discuss how we can use our collective platforms to enhance black people rather than bringing all of us down together.”
On Instagram, Wyatt also added hashtags including “#FarFromFinished” and “#FreeBillCosby”.
Cosby is currently serving three to 10 years in prison after being found guilty in 2018 on three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home in 2004. A Pennsylvania appeals court upheld his conviction earlier this month.
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