Eddie Murphy isn’t quite a recluse, but he hasn’t appeared in a film in five years and rarely grants interviews. Luckily, Murphy spoke with The Hollywood Reporter recently in a rare sit-down where he discussed everything from his “Saturday Night Live” beginnings to his career goals going forward.
But one of the oddest tidbits from the discussion is that Murphy doesn’t use the Internet. At all. He no longer concerns himself with the happenings and who’s who of the entertainment industry, a stark departure from how he used to go about his business.
“I used to be the hippest of them all. I used to know everything about everything. I used to read about everything that was going on and I knew everybody’s name and anybody in pop culture,” Murphy explained. “Anything that was written about me I would read. And for the last maybe 20 years — I haven’t read a newspaper in 20 years, or read a corporate magazine, I don’t read corporate magazines or stuff, I don’t read stuff about me. I really don’t read stuff about me. Like, if there’s an article about me, someone has to read through it before they even give it to me. I don’t want to see anything that has anything negative. I don’t want to ready any of that shit. So I don’t know what y’all think. I don’t have a computer, I don’t have email, I don’t have any of that shit.”
The comedian finds social media to be especially entertaining. He explained why he stays away from Facebook, Twitter and the like with growing laughter.
“I don’t need to be on social media interacting with the fans, tweeting that I just ate strawberries. Nothing has made me go, ‘Oh, yeah, get me on, too, I want to be on there with y’all! I just had strawberries too!’ ‘I’m going to the store now.’ Look at this picture of this baby…I don’t feel any pressure to live up to any whatever — expectation — anyone may have.”
Murphy can next be seen in the buzzed about drama “Mr. Church,” which will arrive in theaters on Sept. 16.