--- description: Actor accused of sexual assault "very appreciative" of Murphy's alleged refusal title: Bill Cosby 'Applauds' Eddie Murphy For Not Playing Him on SNL Sketch image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdfe495d88e6f1e7/69877ff75f570fab84b155a6/463540674.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Bill Cosby 'Applauds' Eddie Murphy For Not Playing Him on SNL Sketch by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 19, 2015 4:17 PM CUT  Eddie Murphy at SNL 40th anniversary Eddie Murphy at SNL 40th anniversaryNBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 19, 2015 4:17 PM CUT Bill Cosby has publicly thanked Eddie Murphy for declining to play the comedian — who has been accused of sexual assault by [more than 20 women](http://time.com/3683569/former-hollywood-exec-accuses-bill-cosby-of-sexual-assault/ "undefined") — in _Saturday Night Live’s_ 40th anniversary special this weekend. Cosby’s spokesperson said he was “very appreciative of Eddie and I applaud his actions,” [NBC reports](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/bill-cosby-scandal/bill-cosby-i-applaud-eddie-murphy-refusing-play-me-snl40-n308861 "undefined"). Norm Macdonald tweeted that he had asked Murphy to play Cosby during a _Celebrity Jeopardy_ sketch, but said Murphy [refused](http://time.com/3714580/snl-40-norm-macdonald-eddie-murphy-bill-cosby/ "undefined"): > [](https://twitter.com/normmacdonald/status/568236590331330560) Kenan Thompson played Cosby [instead](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/snl-40th-anniversary-bill-cosby-773816 "undefined"). > [](https://twitter.com/THR/status/567388724733165568) _Read next:_ [_5 Essential Moments from_ ](http://time.com/3710953/5-essential-moments-from-snls-40th-anniversary-special/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined")[SNL](http://time.com/3710953/5-essential-moments-from-snls-40th-anniversary-special/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined")[_‘s 40th Anniversary Special_](http://time.com/3710953/5-essential-moments-from-snls-40th-anniversary-special/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ### See the Best Impressions on Saturday Night Live  Dan Aykroyd as Julia Child in 1978. Edie Baskin—Warner Bros./Archive Photos/Getty Images  Dan Aykroyd as President Richard Nixon in 1978. Fred Hermansky—NBC/Getty Images  Dana Carvey as Ross Perot in 1993. Raymond Bonar—NBC/Getty Images  Norm MacDonald as David Letterman in 1997. Mary Ellen Matthews—NBC/Getty Images  From left: Molly Shannon as Monica Lewinsky and John Goodman as Linda Tripp in 1998. Mary Ellen Matthews—NBC/Getty Images  From left: Jimmy Fallon as Michael Stipe and Ana Gasteyer as Celine Dion in 1998. Mary Ellen Matthews—NBC/Getty Images  Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery in 2000. Dana Edelson—NBC/Getty Images  Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek in 2002. Mary Ellen Matthews—NBC/Getty Images  Maya Rudolph as Donatella Versace Mary Ellen Matthews—NBC/Getty Images  Alec Baldwin as Tony Bennett in 2005. Dana Edelson—NBC/Getty Images  From left: Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton and Will Ferrell as Janet Reno in 2007. NBC/Getty Images  Will Farrell as President George W. Bush in 2008. Dana Edelson—NBC/Getty Images  From left: Tina Fey as Governor Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Senator Hillary Clinton in 2008. Dana Edelson—NBC/Getty Images  Kristen Wiig as Liza Minnelli in 2012. Dana Edelson—NBC/Getty Images  Kenan Thompson as Rev. Al Sharpton on Oct. 25, 2014. Dana Edelson—NBC/Getty Images  Kevin Hart as James Brown on Jan. 17, 2015. Dana Edelson—NBC/Getty Images  Kate McKinnon as Justin Bieber on Jan. 17, 2015. Dana Edelson—NBC/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3714960/bill-cosby-eddie-murphy-snl/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3714960/bill-cosby-eddie-murphy-snl/"},"headline":"Bill Cosby 'Applauds' Eddie Murphy For Not Playing Him on SNL Sketch","datePublished":"2015-02-19T16:17:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:32.833Z","description":"Actor accused of sexual assault \"very appreciative\" of Murphy's alleged refusal","url":"https://time.com/3714960/bill-cosby-eddie-murphy-snl/","keywords":["celebrities","SNL","celebrity","TV","Televison","Bill Cosby topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdfe495d88e6f1e7/69877ff75f570fab84b155a6/463540674.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcdfe495d88e6f1e7/69877ff75f570fab84b155a6/463540674.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SNL 40th Anniversary Special - 2015","caption":"SNL 40th Anniversary Special - 2015","creditText":"NBC—NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3714960/bill-cosby-eddie-murphy-snl/","name":"Bill Cosby 'Applauds' Eddie Murphy For Not Playing Him on SNL Sketch"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Norm MacDonald Explains Eddie Murphy's 'SNL 40' Appearance","description":"Norm MacDonald went on a long Twitter story Wednesday night and explained Murphy's part was intended to be much bigger.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/8GtjAB3O/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-19T15:07:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/8GtjAB3O.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3714960/bill-cosby-eddie-murphy-snl/","duration":"PT1M37S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3714960/bill-cosby-eddie-murphy-snl/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```