The comedian tells EW a gesture from a Hollywood legend, not anger over defeat, led him to exit without watching his costars perform.

Eddie Murphy shares real reason he left Oscars early after losing for *Dreamgirls *(exclusive)

The comedian tells EW a gesture from a Hollywood legend, not anger over defeat, led him to exit without watching his costars perform.

By Jillian Sederholm

Jillian Sederholm

Jillian Sederholm is news director at *. *She has worked at EW for more than eight years. Jillian has previously worked as a reporter, social media editor, and homepage producer at NBC News, Digital First Media, Newsday, and *Random Lengths News.*

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January 3, 2026 10:00 a.m. ET

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Eddie Murphy in 'Dreamgirls' (2006); Eddie Murphy arrives at the 79th annual Academy Awards Nominees luncheon in Beverly Hills on Feb. 5, 2007. Credit:

David James/Paramount; GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty

- Eddie Murphy tells EW why he really left the Oscars early after losing for *Dreamgirls* in 2007.

- He insists it had nothing to do with being mad that Alan Arkin beat him, calling the late actor "hysterically funny" in *Little Miss Sunshine.*

- A gesture from Clint Eastwood was the last straw that led Murphy to leave before his costars performed that night.

When Eddie Murphy lost at the 2007 Oscars, headlines accused him of bolting out in anger, but the legendary comedian explains to * *that it wasn't bitterness that led to his early exit, but feeling pity from a Hollywood icon.

The *Saturday Night Live *alum snagged his first Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role as James "Thunder" Early, a.k.a. Jimmy, in the musical *Dreamgirls, *costarring Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé, and Jennifer Hudson.

Murphy was in a stacked category, up against Alan Arkin for *Little Miss Sunshine,* Jackie Earle Haley for* Little Children, *Djimon Hounsou for *Blood Diamond,* and Mark Wahlberg for *The Departed. *The comedian appeared nervous as Rachel Weisz paid tribute to each nominee before opening the envelope to reveal the winner. Then he politely applauded as Arkin made his way up to the stage.**

Murphy didn’t stay to watch Hudson win Best Supporting Actress or to enjoy his costars' performance of the film's three Best Original Song nominees — leading to speculation he was pissed.

"What happened was I was at the Oscars, I had lost, and then people kept coming over to me and kept [patting] me on the shoulder," Murphy tells EW during a discussion about his Netflix documentary *Being Eddie.* "Clint Eastwood came and rubbed my shoulder. And I was like, oh, no, no, I'm not gonna be this guy all night. Let's just leave. I didn't storm out. I was like, I'm not gonna be the sympathy guy all night."**

Eddie Murphy and Anika Noni Rose in 'Dreamgirls'. David James/Paramount

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Murphy insists he knew Arkin had the Oscar in the bag before they were even in competition for it, calling the actor, who died in 2023, "hysterically funny" in his winning role.

"Jeff Katzenberg invited me over to see *Little Miss Sunshine* six months before it came out in the theaters, and I literally watched the movie and I watched Alan — and I hadn't been nominated or anything yet — and I watched the movie and I turned to Jeff afterwards and I said, 'Now that performance right there is one of those performances that will steal somebody's Oscar,'" Murphy recalls. "I said those exact words. I was like, 'He could steal somebody's Oscar,' then he stole mine."

Murphy laughs, then clarifies, "No, I don't feel like he stole mine."

The *Coming to America *star explains that he's come to learn "winning an Oscar is more art than science. It's not like oh, you do this, and you do that, and you win the Oscar. No, it's all this intangible stuff that comes with winning: campaigning and your past stuff and what do they owe you and s---. All of that stuff comes into play when you get Oscars."

He says Arkin had that winning formula. "When you add all of that stuff into it, he totally deserves his Oscar for his whole career. He's an amazing actor."

Abigail Breslin and Alan Arkin in 'Little Miss Sunshine' (2006).

Eric Lee/Fox Searchlight

In *Being Eddie, *Murphy calls losing any award a "mindf---," mostly due to the effort of going to the ceremony for no reason.

"The mindf--- for me is that I get dressed and come to the thing, 'cause I would usually not go to award shows," he says in the career-spanning documentary. "Whenever I lose, I'm like, *These motherf---ers made me come all the way down. I could have f---ing lost at home. I'm all in the f---ing tuxedo. What a waste of time*."

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In a way, Murphy actually predicted his Oscars loss decades earlier. While presenting Best Picture at the 1988 Oscars, the *Beverly Hills Cop *star delivered a stirring speech about the Academy's oversight of Black performers.

"I'll probably never win an Oscar for saying this, but hey, what the hey, I gotta say it," he said in his speech, pointing out that only three Black performers had won in the Oscars' 60-year history at the time: Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier, and Louis Gossett Jr.

"I just want you to know I'm gonna give this award, but Black people will not ride the caboose of society, and we will not bring up the rear anymore," his onstage remarks continued. "And I want you to recognize us."**

*Being Eddie *is on Netflix now.

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Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Academy”