--- description: Bill Cosby says he is grateful that Eddie Murphy rejected an offer to impersonate the embattled comedian during the 40th anniversary "Saturday Night Live" special.... title: Bill Cosby: 'I Applaud' Eddie Murphy image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d3f30bc6f97c1a9/69878031a988ca5e106ac916/rtr4lu3l.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: 'I Applaud' Eddie Murphy for Refusing to Play Me in 'SNL40' Sketch by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 20, 2015 2:56 AM CUT  Comedian Bill Cosby performs at The Temple Buell Theatre in Denver, Colorado Jan. 17, 2015 Comedian Bill Cosby performs at The Temple Buell Theatre in Denver, Colorado Jan. 17, 2015Barry Gutierrez—Reuters by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 20, 2015 2:56 AM CUT Bill Cosby says he is grateful that Eddie Murphy [rejected an offer to impersonate the embattled comedian](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/bill-cosby-scandal/eddie-murphy-rejected-snl40-bill-cosby-skit-norm-macdonald-n308746 "undefined") during the 40th anniversary “Saturday Night Live” special. “I am very appreciative of Eddie and I applaud his actions,” Cosby said through a spokesperson. [Murphy apparently turned down a suggestion](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/bill-cosby-scandal/eddie-murphy-rejected-snl40-bill-cosby-skit-norm-macdonald-n308746 "undefined") that he do an impression of Cosby during a “Jeopardy!” parody in the first hour of the Sunday special, according to former “SNL” cast member Norm Macdonald. Cosby, who was ultimately impersonated by current “SNL” cast member Kenan Thompson, has been accused of sexual assault by more than 20 women. Cosby has never been charged… [_Read the rest of this story from our partners at NBC News._](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/bill-cosby-scandal/bill-cosby-i-applaud-eddie-murphy-refusing-play-me-snl40-n308861?cid=par-time-article%5F20150220 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3716086/bill-cosby-i-applaud-eddie-murphy-for-refusing-to-play-me-in-snl40-sketch/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3716086/bill-cosby-i-applaud-eddie-murphy-for-refusing-to-play-me-in-snl40-sketch/"},"headline":"Bill Cosby: 'I Applaud' Eddie Murphy for Refusing to Play Me in 'SNL40' Sketch","datePublished":"2015-02-20T02:56:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:34:04.338Z","description":"Bill Cosby says he is grateful that Eddie Murphy rejected an offer to impersonate the embattled comedian during the 40th anniversary \"Saturday Night Live\" special....","url":"https://time.com/3716086/bill-cosby-i-applaud-eddie-murphy-for-refusing-to-play-me-in-snl40-sketch/","keywords":["celebrities","Crime","SNL","Comedians","Bill Cosby topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d3f30bc6f97c1a9/69878031a988ca5e106ac916/rtr4lu3l.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d3f30bc6f97c1a9/69878031a988ca5e106ac916/rtr4lu3l.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Comedian Bill Cosby performs at The Temple Buell Theatre in Denver","caption":"Comedian Bill Cosby performs at The Temple Buell Theatre in Denver","creditText":"Barry Gutierrez—Reuters","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/3716086/bill-cosby-i-applaud-eddie-murphy-for-refusing-to-play-me-in-snl40-sketch/","name":"Bill Cosby: 'I Applaud' Eddie Murphy for Refusing to Play Me in 'SNL40' Sketch"}}]}] ```