Fans and celebrities alike tuned in to watch Eddie Murphy‘s grand return to Saturday Night Live on Dec. 21. Olivia Wilde even showed up to watch the show and to support her fiancé, Jason Sudeikis, who appeared as Joe Biden in the episode’s cold open. As the Daily Mail noted, it appears as though Wilde left the taping with a pretty awesome souvenir — one of Murphy’s props!
The Daily Mail reported that Wilde was spotted heading to the SNL after-party with the souvenir, which just so happened to have been Velvet Jones’ A— For Cash, a prop used by Murphy in the Black Jeopardy skit. Wilde held up the book proudly as she walked into the venue with Sudeikis, as one would naturally do if they happened to nab such a cool item.
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On her Instagram Story, Wilde posted a photo of her prize and noted that she had Sudeikis grab the prop for her.
“The only prop alive ever asked Jason to steal for me. If you saw the show you know,” she wrote. “We love you, Eddie.”
As previously mentioned, Murphy used the prop when he portrayed one of his classic characters, Velvet Jones, during a Black Jeopardy skit. Jones wasn’t the only character that he brought back to life during the episode. The comedian also portrayed Mister Robinson, Gumby, and Buckwheat, much to the audience’s delight.
Before he returned to SNL, Murphy expressed his desire to revisit some of those fan-favorite characters.
“Oh yeah, I’m gonna do Gumby,” he said on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in October. “I’m trying to figure out some reason to do a Velvet Jones, and Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood. … And a funny Buckwheat sketch. [laughs] you don’t wanna go back after 35 years and feel, ‘Eh, that was alright.’”
Murphy has also opened up about making his grand return to SNL after 35 years. He was previously a cast member on the show from 1980 to 1984, but did not make a return to the stage (minus a brief appearance at SNL‘s 40th anniversary celebration in 2015) until Dec. 21.
“It is a lot like going back to your old high school or going back to college because it’s the exact same system in place,” he said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon days before he returned to SNL. “It’s kinda surreal. Thirty-five years since I’ve been back. I went for the 40th. Thirty-five years since I’ve actually done the show.”
