After Bill Cosby Joke on 'SNL,' Eddie Murphy Fans and Fellow Comics Defend His Comments

Bill Cosby and his representatives may not have found Eddie Murphy's Saturday Night Live takedown of the disgraced comedian funny, but several of Murphy's fans and entertainment colleagues sure did.

Murphy made his highly anticipated return to SNL over the weekend and during his opening monologue, he dished out a wisecrack about Cosby, who is currently in prison on aggravated indecent assault charges after being found guilty in 2018 for drugging and sexually assaulting women.

"But if you would have told me 30 years ago that I would be this boring, stay-at-home ... house dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail, even I would have took that bet," Murphy joked, adding a riff on Cosby's old signature tagline, 'Who is America's Dad' now?"

While social media was flooded with praise and reverence for 58-year-old Murphy's performance as SNL host on Saturday, his comment about Cosby, 82, earned him a scathing response from Cosby's publicist, Andrew Wyatt, who referred to Murphy as a "Hollywood Slave" in a statement shared on Cosby's Facebook on Sunday.

"Mr. Cosby broke color barriers in the Entertainment Industry, so that Blacks like Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappell, Kevin Hart and et al., could have an opportunity to showcase their talents for many generations to come. 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," the statement read. "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 humanize all races, religions and genders; but your attacking Mr. Cosby helps you embark on just becoming clickbait. 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."

Cosby's representatives have yet to respond to Newsweek's request for further comment.

Wyatt's comments were met with backlash from Murphy's fans, who were quick to point out the many rape accusations against Cosby that essentially landed him behind bars.

Meanwhile, Murphy's colleagues and fellow comics noted Cosby's bullying of the Dolemite is My Name star back when he was first starting out in the business.

"30 ago Cosby ("America's Dad") called Murphy and told him that his filthy comedy was a bad influence on family morality," comedian and The Real co-host Loni Love wrote on Twitter on Monday, adding, "It's not a random dig. It's a callback."

SNL cast member Chris Redd, who starred alongside Murphy in a number of skits and sketches on the NBC comedy show on Saturday, also came to his defense. "The nail in the coffin patience of petty that is Eddie's Cosby joke is what every comic, person, being on earth wants when they win a beef that has been going on for over 30 years. Checkmate, my guy!!!"

Murphy first revealed his age-old beef with Cosby in his 1987 standup film, Eddie Murphy Raw. The award-winning actor said he received a phone call from Cosby, who he considered one of his comedic idols at the time.

However, the conversation ended in disappointment after Cosby reportedly scolded Murphy for being a bad influence with his profanity-laden comedy. Murphy wrapped up the bit telling audiences he called late comedian Richard Pryor after his talk with Cosby and was informed to "tell Bill I said have a Coke and a smile and shut the f**k up."

See a few more reactions to the Cosby statement below.