An old interview of Nicole Murphy and Wendy Williams has resurfaced online, reminding viewers of Murphy’s infamously messy moment with director Antoine Fuqua, and the intensity (and brilliance) of William’s interview skills back in the day.
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In the old clip, Williams tries to get the tea from the ex-wife of Eddie Murphy, diving right into her much-talked-about kiss with esteemed director Antoine Fuqua, who is married. In typical Williams fashion, she says in the clip, “Okay, Nicole...here we go. Nicole was a hot topic for kissing a married man!”
In a classic Wendy move, the host comes prepared with photos and facts of the encounter, as Murphy struggles to get her story straight in the clip. Murphy eventually says to both Wendy and the audience, “It was a moment girl. You learn from your mistakes,” explaining that she regrets kissing him. “I regret it. Yeah. It was mistake. I’m human.”
Williams, however, is not buying the excuse. “I mean… people don’t kiss their family friends like that,” Williams adds, alluding to rumors on social media that she was a family friend with Fuqua.
“That’s not the case. I did not release that statement, Wendy,” she explains, saying that “nothing” on social media about the closeness of their relationship was true. Still, in true Wendy fashion, she does not let up on Murphy, pulling out, “exhibit B,” yet another photo of Murphy kissing the director.
Pretending to grab the host’s neck, Murphy once again tries to downplay it all, saying, “It was a moment. You learn from your mistakes, I regret it.” Williams pushes further then, asking if Fuqua perhaps told Murphy that he was going to get a divorce. “Listen, at the moment maybe I had a different impression of the situation,” she adds, before Williams grills her again, asking her, “what was your impression,” multiple times. In the clip, Murphy continues to dodge the question, simply saying that she “did not” break up a marriage.
As Atlanta Black Star points out, Murphy at the time had issued an apology to both her family and Fuqua’s for for kissing him. Fuqua and his wife, beloved actress, Lela Rochon are still married. Rochon is currently having a renaissance of her own, starring as the lead in the BET+ series spinoff, “The Family Business: New Orleans.”
As messy and entertaining as the clip is, the resurfacing of this viral moment is yet another example of just how good we had it with Williams on our TV screens and on our radios, further emphasizing the lack of these kinds of prepared, dishy and yes, messy, hosting skills today. These are hallmarks that we simply don’t see in the TV slate as it currently stands.
Where else could we watch a daytime morning show host grill a celebrity this deliciously, specifically, and effectively? “The Jennifer Hudson Show” has been a wholesome success in the daytime arena, while Sherri Shepherd has certainly been able to make her mark for years in the medium, starting on “The View” and eventually landing her current successful solo series (in Williams’ old timeslot).
But, no one, absolutely no one, can fill the hole left in the absence of the one and only Wendy Williams. While we hope and pray the singular and iconic host is getting the care and help that she needs, at least we will always have clips like these and other countless moments from her hit show to reminisce on. When turning on “The Wendy Williams Show,” there was no way to predict what you were doing to get every day, but you knew one thing and one thing for sure: you would be entertained.
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