"Eddie Didn't 'Storm Out!'"
By now we've all heard the late night jokes, seen the television commentary, even read the Joel Stein LA Times column that piled on (with mere limo driver speculation and nothing more), in search of the ever juicy news "angle," indicating that Best Supporting Actor nominee Eddie Murphy left last night's Oscar in some sort of obvious state of disrespect. "Left in a huff" and "stormed out" tend to be the often used terms.
Hollywood Elsewhere columnist Jeffrey Wells, who himself has led a lengthy campaign against Murphy and his Oscar prospects, perpetuated these tales and offered unending, lengthy commentary on the matter. But, this has simply become a case of lies getting bigger the more they are repeated.
Thankfully Wells ran a quote from someone at last night's ceremony debunking the notion that Eddie left the Kodak Theater like the bastard he's been made out to be. My response to the information was:
"Bravo to this chap. I've been getting fucking sick of the perpetuation of unverified information on this thing. Sure, Eddie left. But all this 'in a huff' shit is just editorial embellishment that 'journalists' should be embarassed over."
Well, ironically enough, I too am acquaintances with said chap, and he recently sent the following note to me:
"The comments on Jeff Wells's site about Eddie Murphy being cool and gentlemanly while leaving the Kodak are from me. If you do feel (as I do) that Murphy is being lynched with unsubstantiated innuendo, I would strongly urge you to run the quote as well. Further, I would urge you to spread the word around as much as possible."
And so I will, with an addendum to the original quote, posted at the tipper's request:
I was at the Oscars, sitting towards the front in the orchestra, and I watched Eddie Murphy leave the auditorium. He passed less than twenty feet away from me and I watched him very carefully because I knew the loss for Best Supporting Actor had to sting and was hoping he was just taking a short break and would return soon.
For the record, he did not "storm out." He did not "leave in a huff." Those phrases imply a mien of anger and agitation that was simply not present. To the contrary, Eddie was composed and polite and waited patiently for those in front of him to exit the theater first. He was as cool and gentlemanly as a person could be under those circumstances.
The phrases "storm out" or "leave in a huff" may be figuratively true (it's arguable), but they are absolutely false in any literal sense. Anyone who repeats those phrases is misrepresenting what actually happened at the moment when Mr. Murphy left the auditorium, and perpetuating a falsehood. There are enough lies in Hollywood. Let's not add one more to the pile.
ADDENDUM:It may have been ungracious for Murphy to leave early, but the terms "stormed out" and "left in a huff" are character assassination, pure and simple. Those who use those phrases should be ashamed of themselves.
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