Actor, comedian, writer, producer, director, and legend Eddie Murphy was inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame on Saturday night. The Brooklyn-born 59-year-old noted that he has been making films “for 40 years” and that “this was the perfect thing to commemorate that.”
Prior to his acceptance, Murphy was introduced by his friend and frequent onscreen partner Arsenio Hall, who asked “how do we honor the kings who walk among us?” After listing his accomplishments, like the early comedy albums that shot him to fame, and characters created for Saturday Night Live, he also landed a zing concerning his notorious “tight-ass red leather suit” from his Delirious special.
“That [bleep] was fly,” Murphy replied back to Hall in the pre-taped acceptance, in which he wore an SNL T-shirt and sat before a large fireplace in an otherwise empty room.
Previous recipients of the award—the “unbelievable company” Murphy refers to—include legendary figures like Paul Robeson, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., Carmen McRae, Richard Pryor, Aretha Franklin, Oprah Winfrey, George Clinton, Spike Lee, Stevie Wonder, and many others.
BET put together a short sizzle reel celebrating Murphy’s accomplishments, and managed to find one of the few sections from his blockbuster 1987 concert film Eddie Murphy Raw that didn’t need to be bleeped too much. The first part, anyhow.
Other awards from the night included one to the late Chadwick Boseman as best actor in a motion picture, for his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Viola Davis for best actress in the same film, and DJ D-Nice for entertainer of the year. LeBron James received the President’s Award for public service and Stacey Abrams won the inaugural Social Justice Impact Award, presented to her by Michelle Obama.
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