Eddie Murphy admitted he’s terrified of becoming a viral meme if a basketball player crashes into him while he’s sitting courtside at a Lakers game.
Eddie Murphy confessed his courtside anxiety and viral meme paranoia during a recent sit-down, revealing that while he enjoys front-row seats at Los Angeles Lakers games, he’s constantly worried about becoming internet fodder.
“My biggest fear is to be sitting there and one of the guys go dive for some ball and knock me out and turn into some meme,” Eddie Murphy said. “You could be on TV and be on the news and Shaq(uille O’Neal) is stepping on your face.”
The Beverly Hills Cop legend, known for keeping a low profile outside of work, said he’s not concerned about getting hit with the ball—because that’s already happened.
What rattles him most is the sheer size of the players and the possibility of a 7-footer barreling into his lap.
“You don’t realise how big these guys are until you sit on the floor and they run by. It’s like a f**king herd. A 7-foot dude diving into you,” he said.
Despite being a Hollywood icon, Murphy said he doesn’t often mingle in celebrity circles. He recalled meeting LeBron James outside a nightclub in the mid-2000s during his divorce from Nicole Mitchell, but said such encounters are rare.
“I never met Michael Jordan before. I haven’t met a lot of people. I met a bunch of people in the early days. When I first got into business, I would meet people. But I don’t do a lot of show business stuff,” Murphy said.