Bill Cosby’s publicist has labelled Eddie Murphy a “Hollywood slave” after he took aim at the disgraced comedian on his return to Saturday Night Live.
On Saturday evening, Murphy quipped: “If you would have told me 30 years ago that I would be this boring, stay-at-home… dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail, even I wouldn’t have took that bet.”
He then did an impression of Cosby, quipping: “Who is America’s Dad now?”
Despite receiving a huge response from the SNL audience, Cosby’s publicist Andrew Wyatt attacked Murphy in a statement, claiming that the star was participating in “the destruction of black men in Hollywood”.
The shamed comedian, who has been accused of sexual assault by more than 60 women, was jailed in 2018 for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home 15 years ago.
Wyatt said: “Mr Cosby became the first black to win an Emmy for his role in I Spy, and Mr Cosby broke colour 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.
“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.”
He added: “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 humanise all races, religions and genders; but your attacking Mr Cosby helps you embark on just becoming click bait.
“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.”
He added the hashtags “#FarFromFinished” and “#FreeBillCosby”.
Cosby unsuccessfully appealed his sentence after it was upheld by a Pennsylvania appeals court earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Murphy’s appearance on SNL marked the first step of his wider return to stand-up comedy in 2020.
He has also finished shooting the sequel to Coming To America, his hit 1988 movie.
