Eddie Murphy receives AFI Life Achievement Award in star-studded Los Angeles gala

Eddie Murphy received the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award on Saturday night in Los Angeles, a salute to the career that took him from Saturday Night Live to box-office stardom and helped redefine what Hollywood believed a Black comic lead could carry.

The 51st AFI Life Achievement Award was presented at a gala tribute at the Dolby Theatre, with AFI saying the televised special will stream on Netflix for the first time on May 31, 2026. AFI describes the honor, established by the board of trustees on February 23, 1973, as its highest award for a career in film.

Murphy took the stage with the timing and self-awareness that have long marked his public persona. He joked about the size of the trophy and said he was glad to get the award while he was still young enough to enjoy it. He also pointed to the age of past honorees, including Mel Brooks and Francis Ford Coppola, and said he did not want to wait until he was that old. At one point, he said he was “really filled up,” and added that he would probably cry backstage because the moment felt too large to fully absorb onstage.

The tribute also put Murphy’s career in sharper focus. His run on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984, powered by characters like Buckwheat and Gumby, turned him into a national star before he became a box-office force in film. AFI and Netflix describe him as one of the industry’s top five box-office performers overall and the most commercially successful African-American actor in motion picture history. His film résumé spans Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America, The Nutty Professor, Daddy Day Care, Dreamgirls, Dolemite Is My Name, the Shrek franchise, You People, Candy Cane Lane, Coming 2 America and The Pickup.

That body of work altered studio calculations well beyond one performer. Murphy proved that a Black comic could open not only stand-up specials and sketch television, but also action comedies, family films, animated franchises and broad studio releases with global reach. His career expanded the commercial lane for later generations of Black comedians and actors, making his influence part of the business logic of modern comedy.

The room was stacked with that legacy. Jennifer Hudson, Murphy’s Dreamgirls co-star, delivered a musical tribute. Martin Lawrence, Dave Chappelle, Kenan Thompson, Bill Burr, Kevin Hart, Eva Longoria and Da’Vine Joy Randolph all paid tribute, with Thompson calling Murphy proof that a young Black comic could trust his voice, take big swings and leave a mark that lasted for decades. Randolph, who worked with him on Dolemite Is My Name, said the chance to watch him work gave her lessons drama school could not teach. Murphy turned 65 on April 3, just two weeks before the gala, and the ceremony framed him as more than a nostalgia act, but as a standard that still shapes comedy’s center of gravity.