Smoking is a habit that has not escaped even the most successful people in Hollywood. In fact, many successful actors have their reputation marred with the habit of smoking. Some examples of celebrities who could never free themselves from smoking are Michael Jackson, Prince, and Elvis Presley.
All of them also died pretty young, with many factoring in their smoking habit as the reason for their deaths. While there still are fans who glorify smoking, Eddie Murphy has learnt his lesson from the fates of his peers. Here’s what the comedian has said about smoking and what motivates him to avoid it.
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Eddie Murphy Gets Candid About How Major Celebrities Came Before Him And Died Young
The iconic comedian Eddie Murphy sat down for an interview with The New York Times and discussed how people who died young due to the use of intoxicated things made him realize the value of his health. He elaborated how the tragic fate of certain popular stars has motivated him to stay away from drugs.
During the conversation, host David Marchese mentioned how some of the most iconic stars including Michael Jackson, Prince, and Elvis Presley died young due to drug use directly or indirectly. As the host drew a comparison between these stars and Murphy, he revealed the lesson he learnt from the lives of such big personalities.
“Those guys are all cautionary tales for me,” he said. “I don’t drink. I smoked a joint for the first time when I was 30 years old — the extent of drugs is some weed. I remember I was 19, I went to the Blues Bar. It was me, [John] Belushi and Robin Williams.”
Murphy added, “They start doing coke, and I was like, ‘No, I’m cool.’ I wasn’t taking some moral stance. I just wasn’t interested in it. To not have the desire or the curiosity, I’d say that’s providence. God was looking over me in that moment.”
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Eddie Murphy Opens Up On Being Successful As A Black Artist
Getting fame as a young black artist was not easy for Eddie Murphy. There was constant fear that anything could happen anytime, that could undo everything. Speaking about the same, he said, “Now, at this age, I can look back and be like, ‘Wow, I came through a minefield for 35 years.’ How do you make it through a minefield for 35, or 40 years? Something has to be looking over you. This business, it’s not set up for a Black artist.”
Further elaborating on the challenges he faced, Murphy said, “It was a new thing: I’m doing this stuff that no one’s ever done, and it’s in a business that’s not set up for me. It’s set up for some white dude. So you don’t have people watching your back, and you don’t have support groups.”
Elsewhere in the episode he also mentioned the “cheap shots” he was offered throughout his career. He especially addressed the time when Spade made an offensive joke about him on Saturday Night Live as part of his “Hollywood Minute” segment.
His career was mocked during that particular segment and Eddie didn’t like it. “And all the people that have been on that show, you’ve never heard nobody make no joke about anybody’s career. Most people that get off that show, they don’t go on and have these amazing careers. It was personal. It was like, ‘Yo, how could you do that?’ My career? Really? A joke about my career? So I thought that was a cheap shot. And it was kind of, I thought — I felt it was racist.” Murphy said.
Moreover, Murphy also talked about how somewhere he laid down the path for black comedians like Kevin Hart, Chris Tucker, and Chris Rock and they truly made their paths out of it.
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