Contrary to popular belief at the time, comic-cum-actor Eddie Murphy didn’t leave the 2007 Oscars hall early after losing out on a Best Supporting Actor statuette because he was a sore loser; rather, the Dreamgirls star recently revealed he departed because he didn’t want to be the target of pity all night.
“What happened was I was at the Oscars, I had lost, and then people kept coming over to me and kept [patting] me on the shoulder,” Murphy told Entertainment Weekly in a new interview while discussing his Netflix documentary Being Eddie. “Clint Eastwood came and rubbed my shoulder. And I was like, ‘Oh, no, no, I’m not gonna be this guy all night. Let’s just leave.’ I didn’t storm out. I was like, ‘I’m not gonna be the sympathy guy all night.’”
The Saturday Night Live alum played James (Jimmy) “Thunder” Early in the Bill Condon written-directed musical drama à clef, a troubled R&B-soul singer whose characterization is a mashup of early performers like Marvin Gaye and James Brown. The DreamWorks and Paramount movie, which takes inspiration from the ’60s-founded Motown record label and its premier act The Supremes, featured an ensemble cast with Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Hudson, Beyoncé Knowles, Danny Glover, Anika Noni Rose and Keith Robinson.
That year, Murphy was nominated against Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children, Djimon Hounsou for Blood Diamond, Mark Wahlberg for The Departed and Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine, who clinched the prize. After applauding the win, Murphy didn’t stay to watch Hudson win her category (Best Supporting Actress) or to enjoy his costars’ medley of the film’s three Best Original Song nominees, resulting in speculation he was angered by his loss.
Murphy recalled that he knew Arkin, who died in 2023, would win the coveted award because of his “hysterically funny” performance: “[Former DreamWorks CEO] Jeff Katzenberg invited me over to see Little Miss Sunshine six months before it came out in the theaters, and I literally watched the movie and I watched Alan — and I hadn’t been nominated or anything yet — and I watched the movie and I turned to Jeff afterwards and I said, ‘Now that performance right there is one of those performances that will steal somebody’s Oscar.’ I said those exact words. I was like, ‘He could steal somebody’s Oscar,’ then he stole mine.”
Clarifying lightheartedly, Murphy added, “No, I don’t feel like he stole mine.”