Martin Lawrence roasted Eddie Murphy onstage during the AFI Life Achievement tribute now streaming on Netflix—recalling how Murphy once shut down his request for a picture. The punchline landed softer than the story: Murphy and Lawrence are now in-laws through
Martin Lawrence can still remember the moment his face “cracked.” It happened when he was a young comedian who had just relocated to California and was hustling through security backstage to meet his idol—Eddie Murphy.
But when Lawrence asked for a photo, Murphy’s answer was simple and cold. “No.”
Onstage during “The AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Eddie Murphy. ” now streaming on Netflix. Lawrence returned to that memory with the kind of affectionate precision that only comes from time doing its work. “You’re my brother, my friend. And my in-law,” he told the room, stepping from roast to reality. Then he clarified the punchline: “You’re my brother, my friend. And my in-law brother. ” Lawrence concluded. framing it as family humor made even funnier because the two stars are now. literally. related.
The Netflix tribute evening—held in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theater—brought out a crowd of entertainment heavyweights. Among the final presenters were Chris Rock. Spike Lee. Mike Myers and Dave Chappelle. with Murphy seated next to his wife Paige Butcher in the audience. laughing at Lawrence’s story.
Lawrence said he’d introduced himself backstage to the then-famous Murphy with the confidence of a fan who thought he’d earned access. “Eddie, I’m Martin Lawrence. Brother, can I take a picture with you?” Lawrence recalled. Instead of the celebrity pose he expected. he got the shut-down that became his setup for a late-night callback—“And my face was cracked.”.
Lawrence later pivoted from the denied photo to a softer win: he said he ended up taking pictures with “Raw” director Robert Townsend.
That moment of youthful disappointment turned into a different kind of payoff in the years that followed. Lawrence continued the tribute by leaning into the new family relationship. telling Murphy that he now had the access his younger self didn’t. “Because we’re in-laws now. Ain’t that right, Eddie?” he said.
Murphy and Lawrence’s connection is now shared at the family level. Murphy’s son, Eric, and Lawrence’s daughter, Jasmin, were married two years ago. Before the AFI event in April, Murphy confirmed to E! News on the red carpet that the couple had welcomed their first child—Ari Skye.
“They just had a baby girl,” Murphy said. “They just had her two weeks ago, or a week ago. Yeah, Ari Skye.”
At the AFI event itself, Murphy’s reflection wasn’t limited to the comedy world—though he clearly understood how to enjoy it. As he accepted the lifetime award, he emphasized family while speaking about the milestones stacking up at age 65.
“I just had my first grandson, and my third granddaughter, and I just turned 65,” Murphy said. “I feel like it’s raining blessings on me this month, and to get this award and still look like myself. Because sometimes they wait until you’re really old.”
He got emotional when he looked out at the audience and described what it meant to see his family there.
“Just looking out and seeing all my family, all my kids, my beautiful wife, seeing all my different people that I worked with, it’s just really filled up,” Murphy said.
Murphy’s career and family life have crossed paths in public for decades. including through collaborations with Lawrence—most notably the 1992 comedy “Boomerang” and the 1999 dramatic comedy “Life.” But the tribute gave the relationship a new texture: the refusal to take a picture back then became a memory that now sits inside a larger family story.
The night closed with a rare kind of symmetry. Lawrence’s younger self was shut out of one moment; the older version of both men now shares a new grandchild and a new title for the bond between them—brother, friend, and in-law.
Eddie Murphy Martin Lawrence AFI Life Achievement Award Netflix Ari Skye Paige Butcher Eric Murphy Jasmin Lawrence in-laws