Jason Bailey, Guest Columnist

Netflix’s ‘Being Eddie’ Is Just More Celebrity PR

November 12, 2025 at 3:16 PM UTC

Jason Bailey is a film critic and historian. He is the author, most recently, of "Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend."

Seeing only what he wants you to see.
Photographer: Leon Bennett/Getty Images North America

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Eddie Murphy has lived a fascinating life. Plucked from obscurity and cast on Saturday Night Live at the tender age of 19, his career has been a roller coaster ride of superstardom, crashes, controversies and comebacks.

It’s the kind of life that could make for a genuinely compelling documentary film. Instead, audiences are getting Being Eddie — a new Netflix Inc. release. The film’s description on the company’s website promises to show Murphy telling his story with “raw honesty and humor,” but viewers are served a carefully sanitized version of the star’s life and career.