A perfect confirmation about Eddie Murphy having left the Kodak auditorium after he didn’t win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar has arrived by way of L.A. Times columnist Joel Stein, who spent last Sunday night hanging at the Hollywood Bowl parking lot with all the top celebrity limo drivers, one of them being Murphy’s driver, Karlo Ateinza, who’s been hauling Murphy around for the last seven years.
“Karlo wasn’t having a great night because Murphy lost early,” writes Stein. “I”m really sad. I feel sorry. He should have won it,’ Karlo said. ‘But Alan Arkin is good.’
“Karlo, who drives Murphy only when he isn’t needed by Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock or Colin Farrell (Reeves and Bullock both needed him last year, so they rode together), said he figured he’d be home by midnight. ‘He’s not a party animal,’ Karlo said. ‘Last night, he went to two parties, stayed for 45 minutes and went back home.’ After the Golden Globes, Murphy went straight home. Even though he won.
“Though he was worried about Murphy’s mood, Karlo tried to convince himself that the boss wouldn’t be ornery. ‘When he got the Golden Globe, he just put it in the car and he was the same Eddie Murphy. So maybe he won’t care.’
“Right then, at 6:52 p.m., long before Jennifer Hudson would win her Oscar, Karlo’s cellphone rang. ‘I have to go right now,’ he said. ‘I have to pick him up.'”
There’s also this report from the Daily Mail‘s Baz Bamigboye: “If there was an award for worst loser, Eddie Murphy would surely have nailed it.
“He was tipped to take the best supporting actor Oscar for his role in Dreamgirls but lost out to 72-year-old Alan Arkin, who played a drug-addicted grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine. Minutes later Murphy stormed out of the venue and went home — breaking an Oscars taboo of being ungracious in defeat.”
Theres also this “Celebrity News” report by Us magazine’s Noelle Hancock: “Is Eddie Murphy a sore loser? After failing to nab the award for Best Supporting Actor to Little Miss Sunshine√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Äû¬¢s Alan Arkin, Murphy tried to brush off the loss, telling Us, ‘It’s fine. It happens. It’s OK.’
“But clearly it wasn’t. Shortly thereafter Murphy, 45, and girlfriend Tracey Edmonds left the show in a huff and didn√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Äû¬¢t return. Thanks to the early exit, the actor didn√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Äû¬¢t see any of his Dreamgirls castmates perform and missed out on costar Jennifer Hudson√ɬ¢√¢‚Äö¬¨√¢‚Äû¬¢s win for Best Supporting Actress.”