Los Angeles: Actor-comedian Eddie Murphy has no regrets about his past comedy acts but at the same time, he believes that some of his jokes were quite ‘cringey’.
In a new interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Murphy said he still laughs at some of his old material that would definitely court a controversy in the present era.
“Some of it, I cringe when I watch it. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe I said that.’ ”
“I’ve seen (old) stuff (now) where you go like, ‘Oh, that’s – ooh.’ Yeah, you get a joke every now and then that’s cringey. But that’s not to say I don’t appreciate it. I can still appreciate it. And I’m looking at it within the context of the time. I’m going, ‘Okay, I’m a kid saying that’,” the 58-year-old actor said.
In the ’80s, Murphy became famous for two of his stand-up specials — 1983’s ‘Delirious’ and 1987’s Raw’. Though he was hailed for his performance, people now find these acts as homophobic.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the actor had issued an apology in 1996 for making AIDS jokes in ‘Delirious’.
“I deeply regret any pain all this has caused. Just like the rest of the world, I am more educated about AIDS in 1996 than I was in 1981.
“I know how serious an issue AIDS is the world over. I know that AIDS isn’t funny. It’s 1996 and I’m a lot smarter about AIDS now,” Murphy had said.
PTI