Why Eddie Murphy Didn’t Play Bill Cosby on the Saturday Night Live 40th Special

The Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary was definitely special. It had to be. But there was one thing on the cards that would have had people talking for weeks — Eddie Murphy playing Bill Cosby in the show’s iconic Celebrity Jeopardy segment.

The plan, which never came to fruition, was outlined in a tweet-storm from veteran comedian and SNL alum Norm Macdonald on Wednesday night, who described the writing and ideation process behind the iconic skit in great detail.

Macdonald goes on to describe the process of convincing Murphy to do the sketch.

And here’s why.