AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Eddie Murphy

He weighed the trophy, then Chappelle asked for Charlie

Eddie Murphy held the silver AFI star at the Dolby Theatre on 18 April 2026 and asked if the thing had always been that small. The Hollywood Reporter clocked the joke before the thank-yous. He was 65, a new grandfather, and still looking like himself. He named how late the Institute sometimes waits. Mel Brooks at 86. Francis Ford Coppola at 86. Lillian Gish at 92. "If you made me wait until I was 92, I would've come out here and said, 'Fuck everybody.'" Then he got quiet. He thanked family, collaborators, and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos for putting the night together. latestnetflix.com's read is that "I wish y'all can feel what I'm feeling, see what I'm seeing."He told the room he would cry backstage.

Netflix put that room on the app on 31 May as AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Eddie Murphy. TMDB files it as a 1 hour 23 minute documentary, with Murphy, Spike Lee, Dave Chappelle, and Chris Rock billed as themselves. AFI and Netflix had already said this is the first year the Emmy-winning gala streams on the service. AFI president Bob Gazzale thanked Sarandos in the March 31 announcement. The dinner raised more than $2.5 million for AFI's nonprofit programs.,,

Brooklyn hands him the star

Spike Lee presented. "Eddie and I have Brooklyn in our blood," he said. "Eddie made us laugh and made our nation feel better. I took a camera and told stories about how our nation could be better. We both push culture forward. We're still not even done." Murphy ribbed him about the Knicks. Lee claimed 1970 as a good-luck charm, age 13, when New York beat the Lakers.,

The guest list played like a reunion with extra chairs. Kevin Hart opened on Edward Regan Murphy and called him pop, mentor, and idol. Tracy Morgan worried Eddie's impression of him on SNL50's Black Jeopardy sketch would land funnier than the original. Kenan Thompson called him the blueprint. Mike Myers walked out in a Shrek mask and compared Donkey to Chaplin and Sellers. Jennifer Hudson sang a Dreamgirls medley with Rickey Minor's house band. Stevie Wonder got standing ovations for turning Murphy's old SNL impression into a friendship. Belle Aykroyd read remarks for her father, Dan, who dropped out over "life" circumstances. Martin Lawrence told the room Eddie once refused him a photo. They are in-laws now, after Eric Murphy married Jasmin Lawrence. Da'Vine Joy Randolph said Murphy put her on the Dolemite press tour when leads usually go alone. Bill Burr called him arguably the most talented guy in the business.,

The Charlie pitch is not a signed deal

The other leak followed Murphy home. Chappelle said he visited the day after Murphy's 65th birthday. Grandkids in the pool. They talked about Charlie Murphy, dead since 2017, for the first time since the funeral. Eddie, not Dave, floated a Chappelle's Show movie. Chappelle answered that Charlie was Eddie's brother. Then he put it on the record in the Dolby. "So Eddie, if I do it, man, do the Charlie parts and let's fucking go." That is a live pitch, not a contract.

AFI's own history made the night less casual. Murphy is the fourth Black artist to receive the Life Achievement Award after Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman, and Denzel Washington. Clip reels ran from 48 Hrs. Through Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, with Being Eddie already on the same service. AFI posted his entrance clip. The Netflix cut is that room, not a studio recap.,,