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- [emotional music playing] - Once upon a time,
before you were born,
even before I was born,
the movies were born.
One of the great gifts they gave us,
perhaps the greatest gift,
was laughter.
In its earliest days, there were kings of comedy,
Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd.
And across time,
the movies have lifted us up
when the world brought us down.
Film, television, no matter the medium,
laughter has always proved to be the best medicine.
[audience laughing]
[Mel] Some have talents that burst beyond the screen
and onto the stage.
They create characters that have us look inside ourselves.
Whoa, okay, like you're really supposed to be like my best friend?
[Mel] And there are some, very few,
that did it all.
It's good to be the king.
[music swelling]
[Mel] But tonight, beyond the echo of laughter…
[laughing]
…we honor a man full of greater surprises
and one who broke barriers to drive culture forward.
Ladies and gentlemen, Eddie Murphy.
- [band playing "Axel F"] - [crowd cheering]
[music continues]
[announcer] From the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood,
the highest honor for a career in film,
the AFI Life Achievement Award, a Tribute to Eddie Murphy,
with Kevin Hart, Tracy Morgan, Eva Longoria, Chris Rock,
Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Kenan Thompson,
Stevie Wonder, Robert Townsend, Bill Burr,
Judge Reinhold, Arsenio Hall, Dave Chappelle,
Mike Myers, Martin Lawrence, Spike Lee, and many more.
With a special performance from Dreamgirls by Jennifer Hudson.
Ladies and gentlemen, Kevin Hart.
- [upbeat music playing] - [crowd cheering]
Welcome, welcome to the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award.
This is a tribute to Edward Regan Murphy.
[crowd cheering]
That is his given name, Edward Regan Murphy.
Look, I think we should take time and we should break this down. Uh…
"Edward." Edward originates from the old English name,
"Eadweard," which translates to "protector of wealth," right?
And we know that that's true.
Eddie, we think you've done a great job with wealth
through your duration of time in this career.
And then there's "Regan."
Regan is an Irish name that translates from "Ó Riagáin" to "royal child."
This is true.
So we basically have a rich king.
So far this tracks, right?
Um, and then comes "Murphy."
This is where… This is where I got fucked up,
because I said, "Well, who… fucked who?"
Like who… What happened to give us Eddie Murphy?
And it's a lot of questions that I had,
but regardless of the who, the how, and the what,
it tells us everything we need to know about Edward Regan Murphy.
Everything so much that we call the man Eddie.
The reason why we call him Eddie is because he's our pal.
He's our friend.
Even you white people think he's your friend.
Uh, he's given us the gift of laughter across generations.
And, you know, it's not just about the laughs,
and we'll see that tonight.
This is a man who can do it all.
We're talking about comedy, we're talking drama, singing, dancing.
He can curse like a motherfucker. He's special at it.
He can play any part, and, in fact, he likes to play all parts.
Think about The Nutty Professor,
where he played seven different characters, right?
[crowd cheering]
And tonight, tonight he is playing three.
He is this guy, take a look.
Yeah, that's right. Right?
And this person. He's gonna be this person right here.
Yep.
Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.
And wait, and yes, this person too. One more, go ahead.
Oh, that's me. Okay, wait.
Look, Eddie, genuinely, man, I have to tell you,
and I wanna take this time to say
what I have said in quick passings over the years.
You truly mean everything to me in this business.
I stand where I stand today because of the work that you did before me,
the doors you opened up before me.
You are a brother, a mentor, an inspiration.
Goddamn it, you're an idol.
And I'm lucky, I'm lucky to call you a friend, man.
I truly am grateful for the relationship that we have.
And it's an honor to be here tonight to celebrate you
and to kick off what is long overdue, my friend,
an evening in your honor from the AFI
and the highest honor for a career in film.
Eddie Murphy.
[crowd applauding]
I was born in Brooklyn, New York, Kings County Hospital.
Yes, I remember the hospital very well.
[laughs]
In Brooklyn, we lived right down the street from Loew's Gates Theatre.
So we used to go to movies all the time.
My very first time I saw the original Planet of the Apes
was in the Loew's Gates Theatre.
I remember the reveal of the Statue of Liberty
and the audible, the audience, you know, "Oh!"
And I was… [gasps]
[laughs]
So we moved out to Long Island. It was, like, quiet.
Felt like we moved to the country.
All that shit they was talking in the Civil Rights movement,
where you're getting to the mountaintop
and going… We felt like we had got there,
you know, like, "Yeah, we're in the Promised Land."
I watched a lot of TV.
I Dream of Jeannie and Gilligan's Island,
Andy Griffith Show.
I was watching Andy Griffith last night
and I realized I was like, "Hey, you know something?"
"You don't see no Black people in the… Nobody."
[laughs]
"Not one."
[whistles "The Andy Griffith Show Theme"]
That's why they were so happy and whistling.
No brothers in the neighborhood.
[laughs]
I asked for a ventriloquist dummy when I was about nine.
So very early on, I paint pictures with words
and tell stories and do characters and stuff.
And I knew I could make a room of people laugh.
My brother Charlie is the only person to ever get the best of me.
You know, we used to call it ranking on each other,
but it's not competitive.
That's part of the culture.
And it was really big in the house.
When I first heard Richard Pryor's album,
that was when it was like, "Oh, I'm… that's me."
"That's who I'm going to be. I'm going to be that."
"I'm going to do what this guy is doing."
I would sign in people's yearbooks, "Eddie Murphy, future plans, comedian."
"Now you have proof to your children that you knew me."
I signed it in everybody's yearbook.
I started going into the city around 17.
It was 1979, 78.
So I was usually the only Black person and the only young person.
[humming jingle]
- [crowd applauding] - [upbeat music playing]
[announcer] Please welcome Tracy Morgan.
Eddie Murphy is an icon.
He's an inspiration.
Yeah, he's an inspiration for me and many others.
So when I found out
that he and I were going to be playing in the sketch together
at the SNL 50th anniversary show,
I was immediately excited.
And then I found out
he was going to be playing me in the sketch.
I said, "What the…?"
"Oh my God."
"One of the greatest performers ever
was going to be playing me in the sketch with me."
"My God, what if he's funnier than me while he's playing me?"
[crowd laughing, cheering]
Without Eddie, there is no Axel Foley.
There's no Reggie Hammond.
There's no "Hercules, Hercules!"
None of that.
Eddie Murphy changed the movie business
and paved the way for an entire generation of actors.
Eddie Murphy has made the world laugh.
And right now the world really, really, really…
I mean, really needs that.
[crowd cheering]
Hey! Yo, listen, I'm one of the lucky people
who can honestly say Eddie Murphy is my friend.
He's my OG.
And I think he my biological father.
He know it!
I look just like him.
To my friend…
First of all, I love you.
And for all moviegoers all around the world,
I say, thank you, Eddie Murphy.
[crowd cheering]
[mouthing]
[Don Pardo] It's Saturday Night Live.
[theme music playing]
[Pardo] Starring Eddie Murphy.
When I got the opportunity to audition for Saturday Night Live,
my first reaction wasn't like, "Okay! Let's go."
My first reaction was like,
"Saturday Night Live?"
"Sketches?"
So how's it been going?
Well, it ain't exactly so easy, Bill.
Everybody keeps comparing us to the old cast.
The original cast left and the audiences was like,
"Fuck this show and fuck y'all."
You're going down the street and people be like,
"Hey, you're that dude, Saturday Night Live."
"Yes." "Fuck you!"
Cleveland judge ruling all high school basketball teams
must have two white players.
Fair? Unjust? Comment.
Cleveland high school student Raheem Abdul-Mohamed.
- What's the story, Raheem? - Yo, baby.
Look, I've been a junior at Cleveland High going on seven years now.
Eddie's first Weekend Update appearance,
it was wild to watch him come out to like a smattering
of just claps, like… Just kind of… No one knows who this guy is.
Anytime we get something going good, y'all got to move in on it.
In the '60s, we wore platform shoes.
Then y'all had to wear platform shoes.
In the early '70s, we braided our hair.
Then in the late '70s, y'all had to braid your hair.
Now it's 1980.
We on welfare,
and by the end of next year, y'all going to be on welfare too.
[studio audience cheering]
[Kenan] By the time he finished, uproarious.
Hi, I'm Buckwheat. A-member me?
…getting in with me, Cassius Clay, the man's a disgrace to boxing.
…just send for my new book entitled,
I Wanna Be A Ho.
What a silly negro.
We used to have in the house,
The Best of Eddie Murphy: Saturday Night Live tape.
And so I knew all of those sketches by heart.
Buckwheat getting assassinated, James Brown, Celebrity Hot Tub.
- Should I get in the hot tub? - Yeah.
- Will it make me sweat? - Yeah!
Should I get in the hot tub? Will it make me wet?
A sketch that I really liked of his was Mr. Robertson.
Hi, boys and girls.
I'm all alone today, but that don't mean you can stay too long
because my wife will be home from work soon.
Can you say "bitch"?
I'm sure you can.
That's our special word today, you know.
Come see.
This is the funniest I've ever seen.
Please welcome Gumby.
I remember Gumby as a kid,
but I don't remember understanding why it was funny.
It was like, "What is happening here exactly?"
I have no idea what he was…
What it was or supposed to be, but I liked it.
I'm Gumby, dammit.
Don't be smart with me.
Pay your dues first, baby. Then get smart with me.
There's only one Gumby, all right? And that's me, okay?
I'm Gumby, dammit. Me.
Gumby's based off a manager that I had
named King Broder.
He's the one that would talk like this and he would say, you know,
Frank Sinatra threw a salad in my face.
And I told him, "Frank, you don't throw a salad in my face."
"I'm King Broder."
I'm Gumby, dammit.
You don't talk to me that way.
Eddie, I just wanted to say, I really wanted to be there tonight,
but life has me all bent out of shape right now.
I will say, here and now,
it has been an honor to be your inspiration for making people laugh.
That's the truth.
Oh, and one more thing.
I'm Gumby, dammit.
[announcer] Please welcome Kenan Thompson.
Good evening.
Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Good evening.
It is truly an honor to be here celebrating a man
who didn't just change comedy,
he redefined what it could be.
Eddie Murphy, come on, man.
You're not just a legend, you're the blueprint, bro.
For me personally, as someone who grew up dreaming about making people laugh,
Eddie wasn't just an influence, he was proof.
Proof that you could come in young,
take big swings,
trust your voice,
and leave a mark that lasts decades.
This is Arsenio Hall right here.
[cheering]
This whole night is crazy.
But beyond the comedy,
what I've always admired most is your range, sir.
I mean, you could have stayed in one lane and been comfortable forever,
but you didn't do that.
You evolved, you challenged yourself,
you even changed your laugh. I mean, who does that?
But all jokes aside,
Eddie Murphy, man, thank you.
Thank you for the laughs.
Thank you for showing generations of performers
what's possible when talent meets fearlessness.
We celebrate you tonight, but truthfully,
we've been celebrating you for a long time, man.
Cheers.
Let's do a plug for Eddie,
he's doing a movie this summer with Nick Nolte. We're gonna miss him.
- Going off to San Francisco. - Yay! All right!
[Eddie] Movies just kind of happened.
As a kid, I never thought, "I could be in the movies."
[Reggie] ♪ Roxanne ♪
♪ You don't have to put on the red light ♪
[toilet flushing]
♪ Walk the streets for money ♪
♪ You don't even care If it's wrong or if it's right ♪
♪ Roxanne ♪
It's my first movie, but I go in and improvise.
And Walter Hill used to tell me, "This isn't a comedy, Eddie."
"How about if I did that?" "This isn't a comedy."
What the hell kind of cop are you?
You know what I am? I'm your worst fucking nightmare, man.
I'm a nigga with a badge.
I got permission to kick your fucking ass whenever I feel like it.
That bar scene was the only time I ever had an acting coach
because I'd never done anything like that.
As I said, I like to improvise,
so I would improvise stuff and I'd grab somebody
and they would pull their arms off.
The director'd be like, "Cut!"
The guy'd say, "I wouldn't let him do that."
I'd say, "It's a fucking movie, dude."
There was real tension in that room.
There's a new sheriff in town.
And his name is Reggie Hammond.
Y'all be cool. Right on.
Nobody thought, like, this is gonna be like this amazing classic scene.
We did it.
We were just glad to get through it.
[laughing]
[crowd cheering]
I can see!
I can see! I have… I have legs!
[classical music playing]
I would like to press full charges.
People like this are a menace to decent society.
I'll bet that that man could run our company
as well as your young Winthorpe.
[music continues]
Someone told you to do this to me?
Yeah, and he paid me a hundred bucks too.
It was the Dukes. It was the Dukes.
You're a dead man, Valentine!
[man] Now, what are commodities?
Commodities are agricultural products,
like coffee that you had for breakfast,
wheat, which is used to make bread,
pork bellies, which is used to make bacon,
which you might find in a bacon and lettuce and tomato sandwich.
Whenever I've done that in movies,
it wasn't my idea when I did a camera take.
That's John Landis's idea.
But I tell you what's interesting about that.
You make a connection with audiences when you look at them,
because nobody looks at them.
When you go see, no one looks, you know,"Hey…"
When Charlie Chaplin comes on the scene,
he's the first one to do it.
And it made him have this connection with audiences off the top.
Chaplin is the greatest
because Chaplin was able to do it with no sound.
Hey, how'd y'all make out today?
How could you do this to us after everything we've done for you?
Oh, see, I made Louis a bet here.
Louis bet me that we couldn't both get rich
and put y'all in the poor house at the same time.
He didn't think we could do it. I won.
I lost.
- One dollar. - Thank you, Louis.
After you.
Certainly.
[laughs]
[applauding]
[announcer] Please welcome the daughter of Dan Aykroyd,
Belle Aykroyd.
My father wanted to be here,
planned to be here,
wrote these remarks,
and then life got in the way.
So from him to you.
Good evening, sir.
We made a big hit classic movie together, man.
A critical and financial success.
[applauding]
Trading Places is now in the pantheon of Christmas movies
for baby Jesus' sake.
It was a solid script
with a great director, John Landis,
plus talented and well-liked actors.
But Eddie, it was you.
It was your power, brilliance, talent,
skills, and vibrant charisma
that propelled the movie into the realm of the greats.
Looking good, Billy Ray.
Thank you.
Good night, Hollywood.
I like Elvis Presley.
Really, I give credit where credit is due.
When Elvis was young, he was a bad motherfucker, boy.
Elvis was bad.
He was vicious.
Sing his ass off.
He sang so good, they let him do movies, he couldn't act.
They said, "Fuck it, let him sing all his dialogue."
They did. Everything Elvis said. "We gotta win this race."
♪ We gotta win this race ♪
I was a really big Elvis fan
and still trying to do stuff like Elvis.
Those leather suits and all the tour buses and chicks screaming and all.
It was just, you would never have thought it was a comedy show.
I was all out. I really leaned into it.
[laughing]
Something about singers that people just love and shit.
Because I remember I did Stevie Wonder on a show once…
[crowd cheering]
…and Black people lost their motherfucking minds.
I had brothers rolling up on me,
"Hey, you the motherfucker that be doing Stevie Wonder?"
"That shit ain't funny, motherfucker!"
"Don't you never let me see you do that shit again."
"I'll fuck you up."
"Stevie Wonder's a musical genius."
[announcer] Please welcome Stevie Wonder.
[cheering]
Love you too.
You know, laughter
can make life
livable.
A sense of humor allows us to appreciate
that a smile can be the most basic connection
to our humanity.
Whether it is that infectious smile,
his crazy laugh…
[imitates Eddie Murphy's laugh]
or just his super silliness.
Eddie and I found each other
because he would imitate me on Saturday Night Live.
Ha!
He made fun of a blind man.
And he made me and the world laugh.
And it started a lifetime friendship.
I love you for life.
And I'll love you until the rainbow burns the stars out of the sky,
till the ocean covers every mountain high.
I'll love you ever and forever and always.
God bless you, Eddie.
[crowd cheering]
[announcer] Please welcome Robert Townsend.
[upbeat music playing]
Thank you.
It was 1987.
Keenen Ivory Wayans and myself were working on our first movie,
Hollywood Shuffle.
Eddie Murphy was the biggest star in the world.
And every casting director wanted an Eddie Murphy type.
"Can you walk like Eddie? Can you talk like Eddie?"
"How do you look in a leather suit?"
Are you serious? Are you serious?
So I went out and bought a leather suit.
I say to Keenen, "We should put this in the movie, man."
Keenen's like, "Rob, Eddie knows us. We can't put that in the movie."
I mean, "Eddie makes fun of everybody. Let's put it in the movie."
I put it in the movie.
The film becomes a hit.
Eddie calls, "Everybody's talking about Hollywood Shuffle."
"When can I see Hollywood Shuffle?"
I'm like, "Oh God. Oh God."
So we have a screening for Eddie.
Eddie shows up with an entourage of 15.
They're loving the movie. They're laughing, they're laughing.
And then it gets to the scene about him.
The casting director says, "What we're looking for is an Eddie Murphy type."
And the whole room is dead.
Keenen's head goes down and I'm like, "Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit."
Then I hear somebody in Eddie's entourage go, "Eddie, they just said your name."
"What is this bullshit, Eddie? What is this bullshit?"
And I'm like, "Oh God, oh God, oh, God."."
The room is dead.
And then all of a sudden, Eddie starts to laugh.
"Rob, Keenen, Why y'all do me like that?"
And then everything was cool.
After the screening, Eddie's by himself in the screening room,
and I go over to apologize.
I go, "Hey man, if you were offended by that scene in the film,
Keenen wrote it."
No, no, no, I told the truth.
No, he goes, "Rob, Rob, Rob, what you guys did is brilliant, man."
"It's brilliant."
"Look, uh, I'm getting ready to do this concert film
and I'm looking for a director."
"You want to direct it?"
"Yeah."
"Then it's yours, and it's going to be called Raw."
[crowd cheering]
I wanted to be Richard so bad, I used to go out on stage when I was 15
and talk and act and walk and do everything like Richard Pryor.
My mother would watch her little 15-year-old son
on stage saying some outlandish shit.
My whole act back then was about taking a shit because that's all I had done at 15.
That was my life experience. But it sounded like Richard Pryor jokes.
[as Pryor] You ever sometime, right, you get on that toilet and when you shit,
that water splash up on your ass?
Don't that make you mad, right?
You know what really make me mad is when shit come halfway out your ass
then go back up in that motherfucker.
Right?
Why do shit be teasing your ass, right? Just get the fuck out, right?
You know what really bother me is when you be straining for a long time, right?
And one little pebble shit come out, right?
Be some shit this big, right?
Wanna push your head up your asshole, say,
"That's all the shit I'm gonna get, motherfucker?"
You know what really make me mad when your ass don't cooperate with you
and clench up and break the shit in half?
You'd be mad as a motherfucker too
because you know you got to wipe your ass for five hours and shit, right?
Use 12 rolls of toilet paper on that motherfucker.
You know what really make me mad though is afterwards, right?
Is after you shit, you done all the shittin' you gonna do for the whole day.
You finish shittin' and you flush the toilet
and wait a second and one chunk come back.
What does that chunk want?
[announcer] Please welcome Bill Burr.
[upbeat music playing]
All right, how are ya? How's it going?
I am the reverse diversity hire for the evening.
[Burr laughs]
This right here is my entire comedy Smithsonian library.
I've been watching him since day one.
Eddie, when I first…
I bought your first album, I didn't even know who you were.
You had the rose behind your ear
and I had been listening to Richard Pryor
and I was just like, "Well, here's another Black guy, he must be funny too."
So I bought it,
and I became a fan.
And a lot of people don't know this, but I actually saw Eddie on the Raw tour.
I was only 18 years old and I went to go see him
like The Weather Girls opened up. I remember that.
And I went with my boss from the warehouse, and he did a bunch of blow,
and he thought he was gonna have a heart attack.
He's like, "We gotta get out of here."
And I'm like, "We're not missing Eddie, so you gotta ride this shit out."
So…
So like fucking two weeks before I went to see Eddie,
I saw Rodney Dangerfield, same place,
and it was an all-white crowd
Which didn't strike me as weird 'cause I'm white as hell.
And I just sat and I watched him and it was all good.
And I remember when Eddie did his show
I immediately noticed that he was making everybody laugh.
So a few years later, I become a comedian and I'm like, "I'm gonna be like Eddie."
I'm gonna go up in front of a Black crowd.
And…
I went up and I did my thing
and I got off stage and I was like, "I am never gonna do that again."
"Black people are mean,
they don't let you get to the stage,
they already heckle…"
"They are going to have a good time with or without you."
That is what I learned.
But…
in that education that you gave me, Eddie, it formed me as a comedian
that I wanted to make everybody laugh.
You've been such an amazing, amazing inspiration.
And I'm looking forward to more of your work.
I love you to death. Thank you so much.
It was an honor to work with your brother Charlie. Rest in peace.
Good night. Thank you.
There was a really strong racial reaction to when I came on the scene.
And different from Sidney Poitier.
In the Heat of the Night he's tolerated in the white world.
In Beverly Hills Cop, I come to California and I take charge.
What's the problem?
- Are you security here? - Yeah.
Then you're the fucking problem go get your supervisor, please. Now.
Get the fuck away from me, man.
I have a pretty good idea that you had Mikey killed.
And when I find out for sure,
I'm gonna fuck you up real bad.
[Eddie] That's why it blew up the way I did.
That was the first time they'd ever seen anybody Black
go in the white world and take charge.
Not just be tolerated and be, you know, like, "You gotta… dignified."
What's all the hostility, Phil?
- Get back, man. - What you doing with all this gun, man?
- I want you to get back. - You changed, man.
I'm telling you if you don't get back, I'm gonna blow your fucking brains out.
- [shotgun fires] - [grunting]
Police, move and I'll kill you.
Don't move!
Turn over.
Way to go, Rosewood. You're some kind of cop, you know that?
[crowd cheering]
[announcer] Please welcome Judge Reinhold.
The first time I saw Eddie was in
a parking lot of a strip club in broad daylight
on the first day of shooting Beverly Hills Cop.
Uh, I just arrived in a nasty old Buick
that looked like it had just made a re-entry from outer space.
It wasn't burnt orange, it was just burnt, you know?
And before I get out, I see this vision of a car,
a white Rolls Corniche convertible with red leather,
and Eddie driving.
My impulse was to duck
because I didn't want him to see me in this car.
I thought, it's not just the car.
This guy's a classic.
At that age, I don't know.
It was like he was from Hollywood from another time.
And he walked in that strip club.
And… [chuckling]
…we with Marty Brest and Dan Petrie Jr.,
defined the action comedy,
really did.
My friend, we're here to celebrate your artistry,
tremendous creativity,
and also from my point of view,
the great care that you've taken of your gift
because when most of us were stumbling around in the '80s,
you walked the line
and you took care of your gift for us to enjoy.
[crowd applauding]
Mark Twain said that laughter is the shortest distance between two people.
Eddie, you've brought us very close.
That's why we're here.
You're our Chaplin and I love you.
Thank you.
I'm 21 years old and I've never left Zamunda.
I have yet to experience what the outside world has to offer.
Ah! So you want to sow your royal oats?
No, it's not that--
You're right.
Get out, see the world.
Enjoy yourself, fulfill every erotic desire.
And in 40 days, you will come back and marry Imani.
- But Father-- - It is settled.
[Eddie] The whole idea started on a tour bus.
I was just, you know, nursing a broken heart,
talking about how hard it is to, you know,
with all this famous stuff, to meet a girl that just likes you for you.
Anything I say, you do.
Yes, your highness.
Bark like a dog.
Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf!
I want a woman that's going to arouse my intellect as well as my loins.
Where will you find such a woman?
In America.
Good morning, my neighbors!
[man] Hey, fuck you!
Yes! Yes!
Fuck you too!
I always liked the idea of turning myself into looking like somebody else.
Peter Sellers did it in Dr. Strangelove.
And that blew my mind.
Mein Führer, I can walk!
And my favorite thing is to do it and the people don't know it's me.
- Excuse me. - Hey, it's Kunta Kinte!
[both laughing]
A lot of people didn't know I was the old Jewish guy for years.
If you didn't see the end credits, you didn't know.
Pound for pound, Sugar Ray Robinson, the greatest fighter ever lived.
Oh, come on, man. What about Joe Louis?
The Brown Bomber.
Now that was a great boxer.
You damn right.
I suppose nobody in here ever heard of Cassius Clay.
He got a point. Cassius Clay was a bad motherfucker.
I knew Arsenio from the clubs.
When he came on, it was like, "Hey, this is what the gig is."
And I just assumed,
I didn't even ask him could you do other characters?
It was like, "You're going to be the barber."
"You're going to be…" We just put the makeup on and did it.
I ain't saying Clay ain't bad.
I'm just saying I stopped liking Cassius Clay
once he changed his name to Muhammad Ali. What shit is that?
Wait a second.
A man has the right to change his name to whatever he wants to change it to.
And if a man wants to be called Muhammad Ali,
God damn it, this is a free country,
you should respect his wishes and call the man Muhammad Ali.
His mama named him Clay. I'm going to call him Clay.
[upbeat music playing]
[announcer] Please welcome Arsenio Hall.
Thank you.
Right from jump,
Eddie knew he wanted John Landis to direct Coming to America.
He had directed Eddie in the classic Trading Places.
And John was also the perfect choice for me.
Because I'd only done one other movie at that time.
And Landis was the director.
It was the classic Amazon Women on the Moon.
My cousin, Acquanetta in Cleveland,
she said that it's in AFI's 50 top films of all time.
She was also eating edibles when she said that. But…
Now for Amazon Women on the Moon,
I think I had 17 callbacks before I got the part.
When your friend is Eddie Murphy though, and he tells John Landis,
"Arsenio should have the role of Semmi," you get the role of Semmi.
So I was thrilled.
I'm getting to play the body man to a prince from Zamunda,
I get to work with my friend,
and they're paying me.
It can't get any better. But then Eddie calls me and tells me,
"I want you to play the preacher character."
I say "Cake," because my dad was a Baptist preacher.
And then I find out Eddie wants me to play
the woman in red.
The credits list her as "extremely ugly girl."
Then Eddie tells me he also wants me to play Morris the barber.
Now the first time the great Rick Baker put us in the makeup,
Rick suggested that we take a walk around the Paramount lot
as the barber characters
and talk to people.
So we did.
And no one knew it was us.
Eddie as his barber character actually hit on this old lady
while we were walking around the Paramount lot
and he got her number.
Yes. And she was an old white lady too.
Yeah, she thought Clarence was this old charming Black guy
and wanted to give him some.
It was crazy.
Eddie, I'm here today for you as a friend,
but also I'm here as a fan.
And if Reverend Brown from Coming to America
were here right now,
I think he would say,
do you love him?
Do you love Eddie Murray?
Y'all don't hear me? Do you love Eddie Murray?
Would you say Eddie Murray?
[crowd] Eddie Murray!
- Say Eddie Murray. - [crowd] Eddie Murray!
We thank you for all that you've given us.
- Can I get an amen? - [crowd] Amen!
And before I leave this stage and fly back to Jackson Heights,
I need to say one more thing.
If loving and thanking Eddie Murray is wrong,
I don't wanna be right.
Yeah!
[crowd cheering]
Look, the game's over for tonight.
I'm gonna take this little boy home to his mother.
My mama's dead.
Well, your daddy.
[boy] My father's dead too.
Did you kill him?
A bunch of new Black directors coming on the scene…
Robert Townsend, Spike Lee.
So I was like, "Let me direct a movie."
You know, I might as well try.
Fuck this.
I like the movie,
but when it came out and the critics saw it,
they ripped it so bad.
It was like I was hitting it out of the park
and I had becomes so popular
and so… And it was like, "And now he's gonna fucking direct too?"
"Fuck that." So they hated it.
Good Lord, you're a cool, sweet motherfucker, sugar.
I love to see shit like that.
[woman] You'd love to see anything, you blind motherfucker.
[Eddie] Redd Foxx is the funniest,
naturally funny person I ever met.
Almost like a curse.
Literally, he died.
He died on the set on a show I was producing.
He had a heart attack and died, and they thought he was joking.
That's how funny he was.
He was dying and motherfuckers was like this.
[laughing] "Redd."
And he had done that, "Oh, this is the big one" so many times.
So when he had the big one, people are like, "Redd, you are too much."
This motherfucker laying there dead and shit.
People were like, "Redd, stop."
Interesting.
I've been stabbed and I've been hanged
and I've been burned.
Even broken on the rack once, but I've never been shot before.
The only thing I would have changed, I would have changed my hair.
That was the thing that was so off-putting to people.
Black people, they just was not feeling…
I showed up with that hair and Black people was like,
"Hell no, you see, that's too much. That's too much hair."
"We know Eddie ain't got no hair like that."
"Oh, he's supposed to have long hair."
I am Mr. Romance when I meet a woman
and then once I hit it, I lose interest, but that ain't my fault.
So in other words, right at that moment of orgasm,
just all the romance just skeets right out of you.
Boomerang is like a perfect movie. Insanely funny best friends.
- Next door neighbor funny, Tisha Campbell. - Hey!
The things happening with the women at work.
Voilà.
When Robin Givens was first breaking his heart…
Let me get a good look.
Check it, just like Jet Magazine.
To Halle Berry coming to the… Halle Berry!
It's a stacked movie.
Forget about John Witherspoon destroying.
- Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang! - Ooh. Daddy, please.
[Eddie] So when Boomerang came out, people was talking shit
because the cast was all Black.
"How come there are no white people in the movie?" It was that kind of…
I've noticed that with a bunch of movies,
the silliness fades away and then it's just the work,
and then, you know, the work holds up.
- [upbeat music playing] - [crowd cheering]
[announcer] Please welcome Eva Longoria.
Hi, good evening.
I don't know if you guys know this, Eddie and I were married…
in a movie.
Um, and Eddie, if you asked me, I'd say "I do" all over again.
Yes, you have made us laugh and the world loves you for it,
but AFI is honoring you tonight
because you're a powerful force in driving culture forward.
And while the world was laughing, it was learning.
Case in point, Boomerang.
Not since Cabin in the Sky, a film made in 1943,
starring Ethel Waters, Louis Armstrong and Lena Horne,
had a film featured an all-Black cast.
[crowd applauding]
There were a couple white people in Boomerang.
There was like a French guy or something,
but nobody remembers him.
It was a film that illustrated "To see it is to be it."
Proof, Eddie played a hotshot ad executive named Marcus Graham,
and inspired by the film,
there is now a nonprofit called the Marcus Graham Project,
which empowers young multicultural people to be leaders in media and marketing.
That's impact.
Thank you for blazing trails,
for opening doors for so many artists, Eddie,
for making the world a more colorful place
and for always making us laugh,
especially when you're moving culture forward.
[announcer] Please welcome Chris Rock.
Oh.
Hey. Hey, hey, hey!
Well, we're all here, Eddie.
All your children, you got 20 kids,
but you also have your comedian children,
Tracy Morgan, Martin Lawrence, uh, Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle.
We are your… There is no us without you, okay?
Uh, what…
People don't give Eddie Murphy enough credit for revolutionizing acting.
Do you realize how Black people used to act before Eddie Murphy?
It was like, do you understand, like in a movie,
it was very, "I'm Mr. Tibbs,"
or… So it was like a lot of overacting,
or it was JJ, "Dynomite!".
But Eddie…
But like Brando, you're the first Black man to just be cool.
To just be yourself.
It was just you.
My favorite Eddie Murphy story,
we're at a club
and this white woman walks up to Eddie
and goes, "Oh my God, I've never kissed a Black man before."
"I've never kissed a Black man before."
And it's Eddie in a big ass entourage, like real Eddie,
and he's got his leather on,
and Prince is there and Rick is there.
And the woman goes, "I've never kissed a Black man before."
"Can I kiss you?"
And Eddie's got all his bodyguards there,
and Eddie looks at her and goes, "Hey, hey, hey, hey,
you can't start at the top."
"You gotta kiss one of these broke niggas first."
Hey, man, I love you more than you'll ever know, okay?
Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Eddie Murphy.
[crowd cheering]
Excuse me, I'm gonna go to the restroom.
[objects clattering]
Sorry about that.
- Let me pick that up for you. - Ooh-woo!
It's a full moon tonight.
- [comedian whooping] - [patrons laughing]
I think I found where they hid Jimmy Hoffa!
I'm literally watching Geraldo Rivera,
and there was a commercial that came on,
and it was like a fat person, and it broke away,
and then it was a smaller person,
and they brought it all the way to a thin person.
I was like, "Hey!" And that's where I got the idea for the movie.
[screaming]
[gasping]
I'm thin! I'm thin!
Jerry Lewis' original one, you know,
he's a wimp, a geek, and he turns into this cool guy.
But we made the problem physical,
when it was like he has this physical problem,
it just changed everything.
What's wrong with you? You're supposed to eat that thing, not scalp it.
All the calories in the chicken are found in the skin and in the fat…
What you talking about? That's where all the fats and calories is.
You know where that come from? Watching that damn TV.
Every time you turn it on, they got somebody talking about "Lose weight,
get healthy, get in shape."
Got everybody looking all anorexic, talking about healthy. I know healthy.
Nutty Professor is my favorite performance of a comedian in a movie.
Oh, this is so fabulous.
Ain't nothing like getting together with family and having a good meal.
[Che] A lot of comedians are good listeners.
You're paying attention to the world making sense to everybody else except you,
so you kind of got to piece together everyone's voice
and what everyone's doing and how they sort of play.
[farting]
Who that calling my name?
Yeah, I called you if your name is… [farts]
Whatever character I'm doing, let's say I'm doing the father,
and all the other characters are a tennis ball.
See what you made me do? God damn it, I messed up my pants.
Okay, now the next day, I'll do the mother,
and I'll have in my ear what I did the day before.
So I'm doing the mother, and I remember what I'm talking,
so I know when I'm talking to a tennis ball,
I remember what I did yesterday.
Then the next day, I'm doing the brother,
and then I'll have the mother and the father in my ear,
and then I have all of that, going and talking to that.
Probably looks crazy.
When I was young, I used to always have relations. Every night.
If a nice gentleman bring me flowers and candy, take me to the movie,
show me a lovely evening,
then I would take him home and give him hot, lovely relations.
Relations is a beautiful thing. It's nothing to be ashamed of.
Especially two young people.
I think it's beautiful.
- That's your ho-ass Mama. - Cletus!
Sometimes when I'm alone, I relate to myself.
I can relate.
Oh, Mama.
- [upbeat music playing] - [crowd cheering]
[announcer] Please welcome Dave Chappelle.
[music stops]
All right.
A little cultural inside baseball. Uh…
I know this is true for me. I think this is true for many Black people.
Black people often have fear for their heroes.
We worry about them because so many of our heroes
are persecuted or shot down.
When I was 14 years old, Raw came out,
and I would go and I would watch it every day after school,
like I was taking a class,
like I knew somehow this was something really important in my life.
Throughout my life, Eddie, man, I kept my eye on you.
You were the ball I was watching, you were the hero that I worried about.
Man, when you came up, it looked lonely.
You was just by yourself.
It was you, it was Michael Jackson,
it was Rick James, and it was Prince.
All of whom…
all of whom are deceased.
And somehow… somehow you survived.
Tonight, when I came into the theatre to do this thing,
man, I saw a bunch of my heroes.
I saw Martin, and Arsenio, and Robert Townsend,
all these people who informed my life.
I saw you, Chris, and I'm like, "Man, this is fucking crazy."
All to honor
the sole survivor of the '80s…
Eddie Murphy.
When we did Nutty Professor, you know,
and I got the role, I was terrified.
To me… Spike Lee too, another hero I saw tonight.
But I was terrified to meet you.
And when I met you, I didn't even know it was you.
You were dressed as Sherman. I was like, "Who is this fat nigga?"
"I'm nervous, this big fat nigga's over here."
[laughing]
And then we did the scene.
Man, I was in the pocket.
"What I gotta do?" They said, "One fat joke after another."
I said, "I got this."
And man, I just started lighting Eddie's ass up.
And he was dressed as Sherman when I met him.
And then they started doing that slow push.
And man, when you put that face on, he was like,
I said, "Oh no." [laughs]
I said, "America's gonna hate me for this."
But a job is a job. I kept going.
And then I worked up the nerve to improvise,
and I looked at Jada Pinkett, and I said, "Who is sucking whose titties over here?"
And water shot out of Eddie's nose.
I made… I made my hero laugh,
and that made me wanna cry.
I gotta tell you, man.
Recently, I did an interview that made headlines
because I said I was considering doing Chappelle's Show again.
And I told the guy,
"If you would've asked me that a year ago, I'd have said no."
Chappelle's Show was a very difficult show to do,
but it was one of the greatest experiences of my life.
And one of the reasons that it was great was your brother, Charlie.
[crowd cheering]
And I know Bill mentioned it,
but Charlie used to tell us stories all day about your ascension to fame.
And I just want you to know, man, every time he mentioned you,
he always said how proud he was of you.
"Man," he said, "I love my brother." You know?
And… And Charlie meant the world
to everybody on the set.
One day, Charlie gave me the script to Norbit.
He said, "I'm gonna give this script to my brother."
"And man, you should do this movie."
And then two days later, came back and said,
"Never mind, he's doing both parts."
I said, "God damn."
A couple of weeks ago on a whim,
I reached out to Eddie,
and asked him if I could come by and visit him. I went to his house.
I didn't know it was the day after his 65th birthday.
Weather was beautiful.
Uh, his grandkids were outside playing in the pool,
screaming and laughing like, you know, children, just pure joy.
And, uh, and me and Eddie, for the first time,
talked about Charlie since he passed.
I hadn't seen him or really had an occasion to speak about it.
And in the midst of the conversation, Eddie,
Eddie was the one that said,
"Man, you should do like a Chappelle's Show movie
or something like that."
And I said, "Man, that'd be tough."
"That's your brother."
So Eddie, if I do it,
man, do the Charlie parts.
And let's fucking go.
[crowd applauding]
Thank you for everything.
Tonight is not just an achievement
of a professional career going incredibly right.
Tonight, it's a lifetime achievement.
Those grandkids playing,
the fact that you still look young and beautiful,
that beautiful family you're sitting with,
man, you are still the hero I want to be.
Thank you, sir.
Who are you?
Who am I?
I am the guardian of lost souls.
I am the powerful, the pleasurable,
the indestructible Mushu.
I'm pretty hot, huh?
Back in those days, you didn't get paid to do them.
You would just be swell.
It'd be swell to be in a Disney movie.
Then Robin Williams did Aladdin.
It was like, wow, this whole movie is this guy's vocal performance.
And it changed kind of like everything.
Can I stay with you?
What?
Can I stay with you, please?
Of course.
- Really? - No.
Please! I don't want to go back.
You don't know what it's like to be considered a freak.
Well, maybe you do,
but that's why we got to stick together. You got to let me stay, please. Please!
Okay, okay.
But one night only.
Ah, thank you.
- Ah! What are you? No, no. - This is gonna be fun.
We can stay up late swapping manly stories,
and in the morning, I'm making waffles.
- [crowd cheering] - [band playing "All Star"]
[announcer] Please welcome Mike Meyers.
[music stops]
When the American Film Institute
calls you to pay tribute to Eddie Murphy,
the answer is, of course, yes.
And when they tell you that you have to wear the Shrek makeup,
evidently, the answer is also yes.
They also wanted me to mention the following facts
about the Shrek movies.
I didn't think it was particularly tasteful,
but they asked me to do this.
Shrek won the first Academy Award for an animated feature.
That's pretty good.
Shrek is one of the top 20 film franchises of all time, you know.
Here's another one. I'm sorry. They wanted me to do this.
Shrek 2 was the highest grossing film of 2004.
Okay, guys, I didn't want to mention it,
but it beat out Harry Potter and Spider-Man, you know.
That's a bit braggy. I'm sorry. And…
Oh, I guess it says here that
not only is Shrek DreamWorks' highest grossing animated film,
Jeffrey Katzenberg has been quoted as saying that Shrek saved DreamWorks.
Jeffrey, you're welcome.
But none of Shrek's success
could have happened without Eddie Murphy.
Eddie's character, Donkey, is a masterpiece,
as is every character that Eddie has created over the years.
Lovable, hilarious, joyous, vulnerable, and loyal.
Eddie combines all of those in a tour de force.
And plainly put, Eddie is one of the greatest.
Now, obviously, I never got to work with Charlie Chaplin.
I never got to work with Alec Guinness. I never got to work with Peter Sellers.
But it is my absolute honor to say and to be able to tell my kids
that I got to work with Eddie Murphy.
Eddie, congratulations.
You are fantastic. Thank you.
♪ My girl wants to party all the time ♪
♪ Party all the time Party all the time ♪
♪ My girl wants to party all the time Party all the time ♪
♪ She parties all the time ♪
[Eddie] I was singing before I was being funny.
You know how everybody sings,
you go… ♪ A, B, C, D, E, F, G ♪
That's the melody.
♪ H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P ♪
Ms. Torresco had the audacity to teach us the ABCs
on the piano with a different melody.
♪ A, B, C, D, E, F, G H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O ♪
♪ K, L, M, N, O, P Q, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q ♪
♪ R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z ♪
How dare you, bitch?
[Jimmy] ♪ Thirteen years ♪
♪ Of solid gold platters ♪
♪ Rising costs ♪
♪ And cocktail chatter ♪
-♪ Fat deejays ♪ - [girls laughing]
That character is supposed to be a bunch of different people.
He's supposed to be Marvin Gaye, and Otis Redding.
I had seen the play on Broadway.
Cleavant Derricks, he played James "Thunder" Early.
That's why I saw him and got an idea how to play him.
♪ But you can fake Your way to the top ♪
♪ Round and around ♪
Try that part right there.
♪ Round and around ♪
- ♪ Fake your way to the top ♪ - ♪ Round and around ♪
You fell right in there, didn't you, sweetheart?
♪ You can fake Your way to the top ♪
♪ Round and around ♪
Shit, I knew you'd have it.
♪ But it's always real, so real ♪
♪ Always so real ♪
♪ When you're coming down ♪
♪ Yeah, yeah, been around ♪ ♪ Oh, I know what's happening ♪
♪ I've been around ♪
[vocalizing]
♪ Faking my way Through every town ♪
- ♪ I've made my living ♪ - [women vocalizing]
♪ Off of my sound ♪
♪ And the game of hits ♪
♪ It goes around and around And around and around ♪
♪ Around and around And around and around ♪
[crowd cheering]
♪ Lorrell loves Jimmy ♪
♪ It's true ♪
♪ But Lorrell and Jimmy ♪
♪ Are through ♪
♪ I want you, baby ♪
♪ I want you ♪
♪ And I need you, baby ♪
♪ I need you ♪
- ♪ Oh, baby ♪ - ♪ Baby ♪
♪ You got me on my knees ♪
♪ Got me on my knees ♪
♪ You got me begging ♪
- ♪ Baby, baby ♪ - ♪ Baby, baby ♪
♪ Baby, baby, please ♪
♪ Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-baby ♪
♪ Baby! ♪
[crowd cheering]
♪ I am changing ♪
♪ I'll get my life together now ♪
♪ I am changing ♪
♪ Yes! ♪
♪ I know how I'm gonna start again ♪
♪ I'm gonna leave my past behind ♪
♪ I'll change my life ♪
♪ I'll make a vow ♪
♪ Nothing's gonna ♪
♪ Stop me ♪
♪ Now ♪
- [crowd cheering] - [song ends]
We love you, Eddie. Congratulations.
All y'all put your hands together.
[scatting]
Hit me with them horns!
[playing "Steppin’ to the Bad Side"]
Let's celebrate the legendary Eddie Murphy, y'all. Come on.
Hey!
Dreamettes!
♪ Steppin' to the bad side Steppin' to the bad side ♪
♪ I had to step into the bad side ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ I had to take myself a mean ride ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ Oh, you know that smile I had is gone away ♪
♪ Those that steal are gonna pay ♪
♪ Steppin' to the bad side Steppin' to the bad side ♪
- ♪ Steppin' to the bad side today ♪ - ♪Yeah! ♪
[vocalizing]
Step!
♪ Step on Step on to the bad side ♪
♪ Get to steppin' ♪
♪ Step on Step on to the bad side ♪
♪ Better see you step ♪
- ♪ Step on to the bad side ♪ - ♪ Be steppin' ♪
- ♪ Step on to the bad side ♪ - ♪ Step ♪
♪ Step on to the bad side ♪
♪ Got to step to the bad ♪
♪ To the bad ♪
♪ To the bad side ♪
[vocalizing]
We love you so much, Eddie Murphy. Congratulations. You are a legend.
All right, y'all, give it up! Give it up for Jennifer Hudson.
Rickey Minor, Dreamettes.
[crowd cheering]
Do you have any experience in motion pictures?
Oh yeah, I have quite a bit, actually. I have quite a bit of experience.
I'm a active, uh, renter at Blockbuster and I attend the…
film, the cinema, as much as possible,
weekly, bi-weekly.
Inter-week… Intermediately.
Would you be willing to cut your hair?
[sighs]
Yes, but it's usually better if someone else does it.
I had heard stories of people making films financed on their credit card.
I always thought that was very interesting.
And we have a scene,
which I think is one of the funniest scenes
I've ever come up with,
which is Eddie Murphy running across the freeway as part of the film.
And we convince him, "No, it's fine."
Action!
- [horns honking] - [tires screeching]
Cut!
[whimpering]
Heavenly Father! Heavenly Father!
That was so great!
[Eddie] That's Steve Martin.
I'm just blessed and lucky to be in that movie.
Dolemite is my name and fucking up motherfuckers is my game.
His story is bananas.
A guy who wanted to be this big star,
but he's just got a little bit of talent.
He's got a big, giant dream and a little bit of talent.
Tug on my shit.
Tug on what?
- Tug on my shit, just tug on it. - Tug on this?
Come on. Just give a little tug.
Don't tug too hard, don't take the motherfucker off.
Oh shit, that's a motherfucking wig.
Oh yeah, that's right. It's all pretend.
Put on a cape and turn into a fucking superhero.
Leave the real you behind, go on stage.
Back then we were watching them as a kid, watching those Rudy Ray Moore movies.
We know that these movies are really crude and low budget.
We know all of that, but there's so much stuff in it that's so fucking funny.
[men grunting]
He's the loser who must win.
[laughing] He's like, "I'm gonna win."
And he does, he wins. He's the loser that won.
I want you to live the life that you love
and love the life that you live.
From the frantic Atlantic to the terrific Pacific,
be the best of whatever you are.
Shoot for the moon, and if you miss it,
hang on to a motherfucking star.
[announcer] Please welcome Da'Vine Joy Randolph.
I first met Eddie Murphy on the set of Dolemite Is My Name.
Now the audition process and prep was rigorous,
but Eddie bet on me.
To be vouched by someone like the likes of Eddie
is like being knighted by a king in this industry.
And my time with Eddie didn't stop when production ended.
Now, usually only the leads go on the press tour,
but Eddie did something very rare and special.
He made sure I was included in every step of it.
Now, everywhere we went, we were greeted by a sea of fans.
The magnitude of this man's star power was so great
that quite honestly, to be in that close proximity
to that kind of energy overwhelmed me.
But Eddie never flinched.
I watched him navigate every fan encounter,
every interview, every talk show
with such a level of grace and humor,
and that I will never forget.
Eddie, I truly hope that I get to learn from you for the rest of my career.
God bless you and thank you.
[crowd applauding]
Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Henry
and this boy was afraid of just about everything
except for ladybugs.
- Ladybugs? - Ladybugs.
And one day while he was out,
a ladybug caught his eye and he decided to chase it.
I read the script and the script made me cry,
and I was like, "I don't be usually crying when I read."
I don't usually be getting, you know, stuff, sad stuff.
Then he looked everywhere all over the place and couldn't find it no more.
He promised her that he'd leave.
But the woman said, "Don't leave, stay."
She said, "Stay here with us."
She said, "We don't have much, but everything we got,
we'll share with you."
And did he stay?
He did.
You know why?
'Cause for the first time,
he felt safe.
I wanna see method actors, you know, going,
if they have to do a scene, where they have to cry,
they think about some crazy shit that happened and I could never do that.
I could never like go… and yeah.
For me, it's like, it's on and "action"…
And then I'm like… [mumbling] "Cut."
Then I'm this guy again.
Put your hands together for Randy Watson.
Randy Watson in here?
And his band, Sexual Chocolate!
[playing "We Are Family"]
♪ Everyone can see we're together ♪
♪ As we walk on by ♪
♪ We are family ♪
Hey, listen, any boob can run a childcare center.
It takes a family to raise some children.
That's what we're gonna be from now on, a family.
If you have family and love,
you can get through anything.
I'm very, very proud of you, Jane.
Let's get you back, Dad.
Okay, cool, "Dad." I like it. I love it, I love it.
I love you.
You love me? Aw.
I'm gonna need another tissue.
[cheering]
Oh.
Klump party of six, please.
Yes, and we are hungry.
Happy anniversary.
[both laugh]
Thanks.
We hugged just now.
We hugged and gave each other a pat and we… boys again.
- All right, then give it to me. - We just hugged already.
No, man, one big motherfucking hug, man.
Damn, man, I love y'all.
- [crowd applauding] - [playing "We Are Family"]
[announcer] Please welcome Martin Lawrence.
To my brother Eddie, what can I say? Uh…
Eddie introduced us to comedy in rock star fashion.
I remember when I first came to California,
I had the honor of meeting my idol, Eddie Murphy.
Went up to his security.
I said, "Can I meet him? Can I just meet him?"
"Young comedian."
And they said, "Yeah, you can meet him."
And Eddie was leaned over so cool.
I said, "Eddie Murphy, I'm Martin Lawrence."
I said, "Brother, can I take a picture with you?"
Eddie looked at me, so smooth and cool.
Looked me in the eyes and he said, "No."
And my face was cracked.
And then I took a picture with Robert Townsend.
I was in the picture like this.
What can I say about Eddie that hasn't already been said,
that we already don't know about Eddie.
Eddie, you know, I love you.
Now I can get all the pictures I want with him
because we in-laws now, ain't that right, Eddie?
[laughing] That's right, that's right.
I want to tell you, Eddie, I love you with all my heart and soul.
You're my brother, my friend,
and you are my in-law, brother.
Love you, God bless.
["La Vie En Rose" by Louis Armstrong playing]
- [man laughing] - Yeah!
I'm very blessed and very, very lucky
to have made movies for so long.
Oh, this is beautiful.
I can't believe it. Thank y'all. I don't know what to do.
[gasps]
I've done some good movies
and I feel like I've distinguished myself as a performer.
Oh, Hercules, Hercules, Hercules.
And I'm happy with my stuff.
I'll put my body of work up against whoever.
They'll laugh more at my stuff.
My stuff will be the funniest.
[laughing]
Gumby, Gumby, just calm down.
Don't tell me the calm down, trailer boy.
Laughter is the best thing there is, you know?
And to be in this business, to make movies,
be an artist, and make people laugh, really.
So everything, all my blessings come from that.
It don't get no better.
[upbeat music playing]
[announcer] Please welcome Spike Lee.
Eddie Murphy and I were both raised
in the hoods of Bushwick and Fort Greene, Brooklyn.
However, Eddie and I traveled different paths.
Eddie made us laugh and made our nation feel better.
I took a camera and told stories about how our nation could be better.
When I got the email
that Eddie wanted me
to be here,
I was amazed.
And I got the date.
But the NBA schedule had not come out yet.
And the Knicks won!
Eddie!
Anybody else,
as my mother would say, my skinny ass would have been courtside
at the world's most famous arena, but I came out for you.
On every step of his journey, Eddie's been true to himself.
Eddie's put his family first.
And last but not least, he is a great artist.
Not just comedian,
ladies and gentlemen, please stand up and welcome the recipient
of the 2026 American Film Institute Life Achievement Award,
my brother from Brooklyn, Eddie Murphy.
[cheering]
[energetic music playing]
[music continues]
Thank you, Spike Lee.
[music stops]
There.
[crowd cheering]
[Eddie] Wow.
Yeah. This has been… Please, this has been a…
They didn't… Are these… Have these always been this size?
It seems like this is smaller.
Is it? Have they always been this size?
Thank you, Spike.
Thank you, brother.
You know, Spike is from Brooklyn too.
But actually, you know, I'm gonna tell, Spike.
Spike wasn't born in Brooklyn…
[laughing]
But he's got Brooklyn in his heart.
Yeah, I had, this morning when I woke up, I had so much anxiety.
I was like…
Cause I didn't know what this was gonna be like.
I was like, "What?"
And it's nothing like… It… Everything is wonderful.
It's a… And it couldn't have been at a…
come at a better time.
It's like this last month or two months has been like…
Just so much has been happening in my life.
I just had my first grandson,
and I just had my, uh…
my third granddaughter.
And, uh, yeah, I just turned 65.
And it just feels like it's raining blessings on me this month.
Yeah, it's a lot of stuff.
And to get this award and still be, you know, look like myself.
'Cause sometimes they let you wait till you're real old to get this award.
'Cause Mel Brooks, he was 86 when he got it.
And last year, Francis Ford Coppola,
the great Francis Ford Coppola was 86 as well.
I'm 65.
The oldest person to ever get it, I think, was Lillian Gish.
She was 92, right?
Yeah.
She was very gracious when she came out and got the award.
She said thank you.
If y'all made me wait till I was 92,
I would have came out here and said, "Fuck everybody!"
Fuck everybody!
Then I would have shit on the floor.
And they would start playing that music,
the music that when they want you to stop,
I would've just kept shitting.
But we staved off that happening by giving me this award tonight.
Yeah.
Just looking out and seeing all my family and all my kids and my beautiful wife
and seeing all my… different people that I worked with.
It's just really filled up.
And, uh…
this is a special moment.
And I want to thank
AFI and Ted Sarandos…
Ted for putting this whole thing together.
It's just, uh…
I wish y'all could feel what I'm feeling and see what I'm seeing.
It's just a really… I've been moved by tonight.
[crowd cheering]
But yeah, I'd like to thank everybody for giving me this night
that I will remember forever and ever and ever.
I almost… I almost teared up.
Almost. I'm gonna get backstage and cry.
But this has been a wonderful. Thank you so much. I love it. Thank you.
Thank you.
[energetic music playing]
[music continues]
[inaudible]
Humor is like a spirit.
It's a feeling that I'll get.
And if I have that feeling, that little, tiny little feeling way in the back,
it's like a nanosecond before the joke comes out.
You say it in your head or you do it,
and you get that little feeling and it always worked.
You tap into this spirit, you conjure that spirit up,
and funny shit starts happening.
[music continues]
[music fades]