Back in February, when Saturday Night Live held a rather self-congratulatory three-and-a-half-hour marathon of a 40th anniversary party for itself, one of the most hotly anticipated moments was former cast member Eddie Murphy's return to the stage.
Finally, after a sweet intro by Chris Rock, Murphy came out and...did absolutely nothing. Like an uncomfortable amount of nothing. This video cuts out before the truly awkward part, but what you're missing is just more dead air. Later, fellow former cast member and underrated genius Norm MacDonald explained that a plan for Murphy to resurrect his famous Bill Cosby impression for the "Celebrity Jeopardy" skit had been canned because Murphy felt uncomfortable "kicking a man when he [was] down."
Well, something apparently changed in the last eight months.
While accepting the Kennedy Center's prestigious Mark Twain Prize for Humor in Washington Oct. 18, Murphy not only performed stand-up for the first time since 1987, he came out swinging with a dig at the legendary older comedian (and now-notorious serial rapist).
"You know you f**ked up when they want you to give your trophies back," said Murphy of Cosby, who was honored with the same award back in 2009. At that time, it's worth noting, more than a dozen women had alleged sexual assault by Cosby over the course of the previous three decades -- though the media furor wouldn't reach a fever pitch until another comedian, Hannibal Buress, called Cosby out publicly during a stand-up set in October 2014.