<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" Late last night, comedian Norm Macdonald\u00A0tweeted an extended, behind-the-scenes look\u00A0at the making of Saturday Night Live&amp;#039;s 40th-anniversary edition of &amp;quot;Celebrity Jeopardy!&amp;quot; Spiced with anecdotal musings, the making-of story resulted in a big &amp;quot;a-ha!&amp;quot; from those who tuned into the high-rated Sunday-night special. As it turns out, Eddie Murphy was originally slated to appear in the sketch as Bill Cosby, a role that went to current cast member Kenan Thompson. In the sketch, Alex Trebek presents contestants with an ill-timed\u00A0video question, Cosby providing\u00A0a clue about\u00A0alcoholic beverages that plays straight to his\u00A0current headline-grabbing situation. The crowd went wild. As Macdonald put it, they would have gone even wilder if it had been Murphy up there doing his &amp;quot;perfect Cosby impression.&amp;quot; But he didn&amp;#039;t. This\u00A0morning, Cosby thanked Murphy for his consideration. &amp;quot;I am very appreciative of Eddie and I applaud his actions,&amp;quot; he\u00A0told NBC News through a spokesperson.  By declaring Murphy&amp;#039;s decision to bow out of the sketch &amp;quot;his actions,&amp;quot; Cosby draws the Saturday Night Live alum into an explosive, troubling stage of his life. To date, 26 women have accused the\u00A077-year-old comedian of sexual assault. The LAPD is currently investigating several of the allegations.  Before Cosby&amp;#039;s statement, Macdonald\u00A0framed Murphy&amp;#039;s decision as a comedic choice. &amp;quot;He knew the laughs would bring the house down,&amp;quot; Macdonald wrote. &amp;quot;Eddie Murphy knows what will work on SNL better than any one. Eddie decides the laughs are not worth it. He will not kick a man when he is down. Eddie Murphy, I realize, is not like the rest of us. Eddie does not need the laughs. Eddie Murphy is the coolest, a rockstar even in a room with actual rockstars.&amp;quot; Many chimed in after Macdonald\u00A0dropped his Twitter essay to praise Murphy.     Something very admirable, too, about Eddie Murphy not wanting to kick Bill Cosby when he&amp;#039;s down - given their history. #SNL @normmacdonald \u2014 Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 19, 2015    Now, Murphy&amp;#039;s decision is under fire for going against everything Saturday Night Live is about. Going easy on a man already under fire has never been part of the repertoire.\u00A0Judd Apatow, who has been decrying Cosby and his supporters since the early\u00A0accusations broke, chimed in on Cosby&amp;#039;s quote only minutes after NBC&amp;#039;s report. His comments straddle a line,\u00A0remaining\u00A0supportive of Murphy&amp;#039;s decision while critical of Cosby.    By the way-- in case you forgot-- Cosby likes to knock people unconscious and then fuck them. Then he intimidates them into silence. \u2014 Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) February 19, 2015       .@jcant2014 @nickel_lem Eddie probably didn&amp;#039;t do it because Cosby is toxic and who would want to associate with that poison in any way? \u2014 Judd Apatow (@JuddApatow) February 19, 2015    Esquire reached out to\u00A0Murphy&amp;#039;s representatives, who did not have comment at this time. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/news/a33220/bill-cosby-eddie-murphy-snl-celebrity-jeopardy/>