Overview
- Being Eddie premiered Nov. 12 on Netflix and revisits Murphy’s decision to confront the Academy from the Oscars stage in 1988.
- Murphy says Robin Williams questioned his planned line backstage, asking “Why go there?” out of concern for whether it would be funny.
- Onstage, Murphy said he had considered refusing to present and declared, “Black people will not ride the caboose of society,” noting only three Black acting winners at the time.
- He recalls waking up to almost no next‑day media attention to the speech, with few headlines or photos mentioning his appearance.
- Murphy believes the moment contributed to him being blacklisted by the Academy, a view he shares in the film and interviews that has not been independently verified.