Eddie Murphy accepted the 2015 Mark Twain Prize for Humor in October, and his impression of Bill Cosby during his acceptance speech made headlines. Only a snippet of the video was available until last night.
PBS aired the full ceremony last night, which included Murphy's six-minute acceptance speech, according to Slate. The much-anticipated TV event came in the wake of the stand-up comic refusing to impersonate Bill Cosby on "Saturday Night Live's" 40th Anniversary special. He was a regular cast member of SNL from 1980 to 1984.
At the time, Cosby praised Murphy for not portraying him on SNL. Through a spokesperson, Cosby issued this statement: "I am very appreciative of Eddie and I applaud his actions."
But last night Murphy displayed his sharp wit that rocketed him into superstardom in the 1980s when he riffed on previous Mark Twain Prize recipient Cosby, reported The Washington Post.
Murphy made politically incorrect jokes about Cosby. "You know you’ve messed up when they want you to give your trophy back,” he joked. He impersonated Cosby refusing to give back his award, noted The Guardian.
Check out the full video of Murphy's acceptance speech below:
