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Bill Cosby's publicist blasts Eddie Murphy as a 'Hollywood Slave' after Murphy makes Cosby jokes on 'SNL'
Photo by Dana Edelson/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images

Bill Cosby's publicist blasts Eddie Murphy as a 'Hollywood Slave' after Murphy makes Cosby jokes on 'SNL'

'Murphy was given his freedom to leave the plantation'

The publicist of disgraced actor and comedian Bill Cosby hit out at actor and comedian Eddie Murphy after Murphy made jokes about the incarcerated 82-year-old.

Cosby was sentenced to a term of three to 10 years in jail for a 2018 conviction on three counts of aggravated indecent assault.

What did Murphy say, anyway?

Murphy made his return to "Saturday Night Live" for the first time since leaving the cast in 1984.

During his opening monologue, Murphy, 58, expressed a joking kind of shock over Cosby's circumstances.

"If you told me 30 years ago that I'd be this boring stay-at-home house dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail, even I wouldn't have took that bet," Murphy said, adding (while doing a Cosby impersonation), "Who is America's dad now?"

Notably, Murphy and Cosby have had bad blood for several decades. Murphy took swipes at Cosby during "Eddie Murphy Raw" — Murphy's 1987 stand-up special. According to Deadline, Cosby took issue with Murphy's use of profanity in comedy and criticized his parenting.

Murphy also recently told comedian Jerry Seinfeld that Cosby spent many years being "mean" to him.

"He had a weird thing with me that he didn't have with other comics," Murphy admitted. "He wasn't nice. He wasn't doing that with everybody, he was doing that with me specifically. He was s**tty with me."

Eddie Murphy Monologue - SNLwww.youtube.com


How did Cosby's rep respond?

Cosby's publicist, Andrew Wyatt, shared a lengthy statement on Instagram, blasting the veteran actor for being a "Hollywood Slave."

“Mr. Cosby broke color 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 said. “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."

Wyatt also pointed out that Murphy's remarks render him nothing more than "clickbait."

"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," Wyatt's statement added. "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, 82, is serving his sentence at SCI Phoenix, a maximum-security state prison in Pennsylvania.

You can read the blistering statement in its entirety here and below.

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Sarah Taylor

Sarah Taylor

Sarah is a former staff writer for TheBlaze, and a former managing editor and producer at TMZ. She resides in Delaware with her family. You can reach her via Twitter at @thesarahdtaylor.