Last night on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, Andy Cohen referenced a brand new movie (Dolemite Is My Name) that Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Tituss Burgess (a guest with Orange Is The New Black actress Laverne Cox) had just completed with comedic icon Eddie Murphy, and the reaction from Burgess did not go according to plan, to say the least.
After Cohen referenced Murphy’s well documented and beyond problematic relationship with the LGBT community, Burgess became visibly agitated and came to Murphy’s defense, stating “he wasn’t problematic for Titus” and “any troubles he may have had with gay people I guess are gone because he loved me”. The exchange can be seen below:
He followed up this morning with this post on his Instagram feed, where he references Cohen as a “messy queen” and mentions that the talk show is not the place to rehash “old rumors” or to “bring a star negative press” .
Sadly, the assertion that Murphy’s creaky relationship with the LGBT community was based in “rumors” is untrue. Without reprinting exactly what was said in his 1983 comedy special, the revolutionary Delirious, Murphy’s remarks on the LGBT community at the time, specially those afflicted with HIV/AIDS, caused a huge backlash from the community, and have continued to follow him throughout his career. Murphy apologized for the routine back in 1996, saying, “I deeply regret any pain all this has caused. Just like the rest of the world, I am more educated about AIDS in 1996 than I was in 1981.”
Let’s all hope that the next time the only LGBT host in late night and one of the most prolific and soaring male vocalists in music today meet, they put aside the messiness and stick with the tea spilling.