Eddie Murphy Only Went to One SNL Afterparty — Because This Country Star Invited Him
The actor and comedian was only 19 years old when he joined the show in Season 6.
Comedy icon Eddie Murphy wasn't the youngest Saturday Night Live cast member of all time — that would be Anthony Michael Hall, who joined Season 11 at 17. But Murphy was only 19 years old when he started his four-year run on the show, which is fondly remembered for characters like Mister Robinson and sketches like "James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub Party." He shed light on what that experience was like during a 2019 interview on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
"So you get on the show, you're 19 — what was it like?" fellow SNL alum Jimmy Fallon asked Murphy. "What were the afterparties like!?"
Murphy revealed that he wouldn't really know how wild the 1980s-era SNL nights got after goodnights. "I only went to an afterparty once," he said.
"Really?" Fallon asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, — because I was 19, and it's 1980, '81. So I was the only Black person up there, and I was the only teenager up there," Murphy explained. "So I was like, 'I don't want to party with them!"
Murphy said instead, he'd go to New York City nightclub Bentley's (the mention of which got applause from a few Tonight Show audience members, to Fallon and Murphy's surprise). "That was the hot spot back in the '80s," Murphy said.
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Eddie Murphy went to one SNL afterparty at Johnny Cash's insistence
"I went to an afterparty once because Johnny Cash hosted. And Johnny Cash said to me, when they were talking about their party, he said, 'You coming to the party, Eddie?'" Murphy recounted, breaking into an extremely solid Johnny Cash impression to set the scene.
"I said, 'I don't know.' He says, 'Because [wife June Carter] and I sure do love you.' So I went and I hung out with Johnny Cash," Murphy said. Because when the Man in Black invites you somewhere, you say yes.
Johnny Cash's sole Saturday Night Live appearance was in Season 7, Episode 17 as Host with Musical Guest Elton John, who returned to the 8H stage alongside musician Brandi Carlisle in Season 50's April 5 episode. While Cash was never technically an SNL Musical Guest before his death in 2003, he did perform several songs that night, including "I Walk the Line" and "Folsom Prison Blues."
A lot had changed since his cast member days when Murphy returned to host SNL for his third time in December 2019, but he told Fallon it was largely the same well-oiled machine he remembered.
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"It is a lot like going back to your old high school, or going back to college. 'Cause it's the exact same system in place — it's kind of surreal," Murphy said then. In February 2025, he joined SNL50: The Anniversary Special and killed in two sketches: "Black Jeopardy" (watch it here), in which he unveiled a Tracy Morgan impression, and "Scared Straight" with Will Ferrell.
Watch the latter below, and stream all 50 seasons of Saturday Night Live on Peacock anytime.
