Bobby Axelrod

Eddie Murphy called out the Oscars live on stage in 1988 for never awarding Black actors. “I remember being with Robin Williams backstage. And he goes to me, like, ‘But why go there?’ I was like, ‘Oh, you don’t think it’s funny?’ It was more, is it funny? Rather than it’s controversial. I was trying to be funny and say a little something, but be funny too. Have a little edge to what I said," Murphy told Entertainment Weekly. Murphy's speech centered on him originally not wanting to present at the Oscars, as he said on air: “I’m not going because they haven’t recognized Black people in motion pictures. And I’ll probably never win an Oscar for saying this, but hey I gotta say it. Actually, I might not be in any trouble because the way it’s been going is about every 20 years we get one, so we ain’t due to about 2004. So by that time, this will all be blown over... But I just feel that we have to be recognized as a people. I just want you to know I’m gonna give this award, but Black people will not ride the caboose of society, and we will not bring up the rear anymore. And I want you to recognize us,” Read more here: variety.com/2025/film/news/e…