Eddie Murphy cringes when he hears his old jokes about gay people

Honoree actor-comedian Eddie Murphy attends the WSJ. Magazine 2019 Innovator Awards at the Museum of Modern Art on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019, in New York. Picture: AP

Honoree actor-comedian Eddie Murphy attends the WSJ. Magazine 2019 Innovator Awards at the Museum of Modern Art on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019, in New York. Picture: AP

Published Jan 1, 2020

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Eddie Murphy cringes when he hears his old jokes about gay people and he admitted he can't believe he said some of the things he used to say.

The 58-year-old actor admitted his controversial 1983 stand-up special "Delirious" has a number of jokes which he is embarrassed by, including one where he said: "I have nightmares about gay people".

Eddie told CBS: "Some of it I cringe when I watch it. I'm like, oh my God, I can't believe I said that."

CBS correspondent Tracy Smith asked: "When you watch that stuff, do you laugh? Is it still funny to you?"

He replied: "I've seen stuff that I'll go, like, oh, that's, ooh, yeah, you'll get a joke that's cringey.

"But that's not to say that I don't appreciate it. I still appreciate it. And I'm looking at it within the context of the times, you know. And I'm going, okay, I'm a kid, saying that."

Eddie also spoke about his spirituality and revealed his belief that his faith saved him from going off the rails in Hollywood.

He said: "I've always been really comfortable in my skin. It's 'cause I've always been grounded spiritually, you know? I believe in God and I believe in prayer.

"I pray all the time, you know. I pray all the time. And you don't have to, like, get down on your knees and pray, you know. You can pray wherever.

"You know what I found? A lot of people in show business that get really successful at an early age, a lot of them go through a lot of stuff and have issues and drug problems, and all these are self-destructive. And I never had that because I was grounded spiritually."

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