Bill Cosby vs Eddie Murphy: What’s Behind Their Rumored Feud?

Eddie Murphy just revived his long-running beef with Bill Cosby in the most Eddie Murphy way possible: with a puppet, a pitch-black joke, and zero interest in softening the blow. It happens at the end of his new Netflix doc, and yes, it is absolutely meant to get under Cosby’s skin.

The doc ends with a grenade, not a bow

Murphy’s Netflix documentary 'Being Eddie' (released November 12) closes on a bizarre, very funny, very harsh set piece. He unboxes three brand-new ventriloquist dummies modeled on Richard Pryor, Paul Mooney, and Bill Cosby, lines them up, and launches into a bit that goes straight at Cosby’s reputation. Murphy even slips into a Mooney impression to set the tone, complete with a knowingly provocative slur baked into the punchline. It’s bold, uncomfortable, and frankly a little jaw-dropping.

From there, he grabs the Pryor and Cosby puppets and plays out how Cosby would react if someone pressed him about slipping pills into chocolate — a pointed riff on the stories that have followed Cosby for years: drinks, pills, sudden paralysis. Then Murphy takes the gag into his living room with longtime friend and singer Val Young, revealing he made a Val puppet too. He puts the Cosby dummy on top of the Val puppet and flips into a high, Cosby-style voice, selling it with a fake gentlemanly charm before dropping a not-subtle reference to that old frozen treat ad campaign.

"Don’t go by what you’ve heard, I’m capable of great tenderness and kindness to you."

"I’m going to show you my Jell-O Pudding Pop."

It’s audacious and dark even by Murphy standards, and it somehow didn’t make a ton of noise until now. Meanwhile, according to Radar Online, a source claims Cosby — who largely keeps to himself at his sprawling place in Massachusetts — still keeps tabs on pop culture and would absolutely be watching what Murphy does next.

Why this lands so hard

Cosby’s legacy has been buried under a mountain of accusations for years. More than 60 women have come forward with allegations ranging from sexual harassment to drug-facilitated assault, with claims spanning from the 1960s through 2008. He has consistently denied wrongdoing. In 2018, Cosby was found guilty on three aggravated assault counts and was sentenced to as much as 10 years in prison. He served roughly three years before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out the conviction, ruling that a prior non-prosecution agreement had been violated. That decision let him out of prison, but it didn’t erase the accusations or the civil cases that followed. He’s now back at home, off the public stage, watching the world from a distance.

This feud has history

Murphy and Cosby didn’t start sniping over Netflix. Decades ago, Cosby personally called Murphy to give him a lecture about using profanity in his stand-up. That stuck with Murphy, and once Cosby’s public image collapsed, Murphy didn’t keep quiet about the reversal.

At the Mark Twain Prize ceremony in 2015, he needled the room by pointing out that Cosby had one of those awards too — then wondered aloud if anyone had asked for it back. Later that year, during his big return to Saturday Night Live, he tossed off this line:

"If you would have told me 30 years ago that I would be this boring, stay-at-home house dad and Bill Cosby would be in jail, even I would have took that bet."

Cosby fired back through his spokesperson Andrew Wyatt, who issued a statement that was, to put it mildly, a choice of words.

"One would think that Mr. Murphy was given his freedom to leave the plantation, so that he could make his own decisions. But he decided to sell himself back to being a Hollywood Slave."

"Hopefully, you will be amenable to having a meeting of the minds conversation."

Murphy later told Jerry Seinfeld on 'Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee' that Cosby’s scolding felt targeted, not general: in his view, Cosby had it out for him specifically, and it was mean-spirited. Now, with a puppet set and a final-scene haymaker, Murphy’s made it clear this grievance never went away.

How it all lines up

• Decades ago: Cosby calls Murphy to chastise him about profanity in his stand-up, sparking a long-running grudge.
• 2015: At the Mark Twain Prize, Murphy jabs at Cosby’s fall. Later, during his SNL return, he jokes about being a homebody while Cosby sits in jail.
• 2018: Cosby is convicted on three aggravated assault charges and sentenced to up to 10 years.
• 2021: Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court overturns the conviction over a violated non-prosecution deal; Cosby is released after about three years.
• Post-release: The allegations and civil cases remain; Cosby retreats to his Massachusetts home.
• November 12: Murphy’s Netflix documentary 'Being Eddie' drops, ending with a Cosby/Pryor/Mooney puppet sequence and a graphic, pointed Cosby bit involving a Val Young puppet — capped with a Jell-O Pudding Pop line.
• Now: A Radar Online source claims Cosby still tracks pop culture and would be watching Murphy’s latest moves.

'Being Eddie' is streaming on Netflix. Where do you land on this? Savage comedy doing what it does, or a step too far? Drop your take below.