Editing Eddie Murphy (section)

===1990–1998: Commercial decline and rebound===
From 1989 onward, critical praise for Murphy's films declined; it hit a low point with the critically panned ''[[Beverly Hills Cop III]]'' (1994),<ref>{{cite web|title=Beverly Hills Cop 3 (1994) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/beverly_hills_cop_3/ |website=Rotten Tomatoes|date=January 29, 2002 }}</ref> a movie that Murphy denounced during an appearance on ''[[Inside the Actors Studio]]''.<ref name="actors"/> Box-office receipts also declined compared to his previous films, although he did find some box office success with ''[[Another 48 Hrs.]]'' (1990) and ''[[Boomerang (1992 film)|Boomerang]]'' (1992). On ''[[Harlem Nights]]'' (1989), Murphy worked as director, producer and star, as well as sharing co-writer duties with his brother, [[Charlie Murphy (actor)|Charlie Murphy]]. The film featured Murphy's comic idols [[Richard Pryor]] and [[Redd Foxx]] in supporting roles.<ref name="actors"/>

During this period, Murphy was criticized by filmmaker [[Spike Lee]] for not using his status to help Black actors break into film.<ref>{{cite journal|date=March 6, 1989|title=Spike Lee Challenges Black Show Biz Figures|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1r0DAAAAMBAJ&q=should%20use%20his%20clout%20rather%20than%20focus%20on%20who%20gets%20the%20best%20table%20at%20Spago&pg=RA1-PA57|journal=[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]|pages=57}}</ref> However, as Murphy's prominence increased, his films (especially those he produced) often had a mainly Black cast (examples include ''[[Coming to America]]'', ''Harlem Nights'', ''Boomerang'', ''[[Vampire in Brooklyn]]'' and ''[[Life (1999 film)|Life]]''). Many Black actors who later received greater recognition made early appearances in Murphy's films, such as [[Damon Wayans]] in ''Beverly Hills Cop'', [[Halle Berry]] and [[Martin Lawrence]] in ''Boomerang'', [[Samuel L. Jackson]] and [[Cuba Gooding Jr.]] in ''Coming to America'', [[Dave Chappelle]] in ''[[The Nutty Professor (1996 film)|The Nutty Professor]]'', and [[Chris Rock]] in ''Beverly Hills Cop II''. Naming ''The Nutty Professor'' as his favorite comedy, Rock regards Murphy's performance in the film as being so great, he had "been robbed of an Oscar", adding that his various performances were "[[Peter Sellers]]-esque".<ref>{{cite news |title=The 5 Greatest Comedies Of All-Time, According To Chris Rock |url=https://www.cinemablend.com/new/5-Greatest-Comedies-All-Time-According-Chris-Rock-68419.html |access-date=September 23, 2019 |work=Cinemablend}}</ref>

Although Murphy has enjoyed commercial success since ''Saturday Night Live'', he did not participate in the making of the ''Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live'' retrospective book by [[Tom Shales]] and James Andrew Miller (2002), nor did he ever attend cast reunions or anniversary specials until his appearance on the [[Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special|''SNL'' 40th anniversary special]]. Murphy told ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' he had distanced himself from the show because he was angry with [[David Spade]] over the latter's joke about Murphy's career during a segment on ''SNL;'' he was also angry  with [[Lorne Michaels]] and the production staff for allowing the joke in the first place. Murphy and Spade have since reconciled.<ref>{{cite news |first=Dave|last=Lifton|title=Why Eddie Murphy Stayed Away from 'Saturday Night Live' for So Long |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/eddie-murphy-saturday-night-live/ |date=October 2, 2019|access-date=April 11, 2021 |work=Ultimate Classic Rock}}</ref>