Arsenio Hall Shares the Zany Way He Intervened in Physical Fight Between Eddie Murphy and John Landis While Filming “Coming to America”
Arsenio Hall Shares the Zany Way He Intervened in Physical Fight Between Eddie Murphy and John Landis While Filming “Coming to America”
Angela AndaloroFri, April 3, 2026 at 9:10 PM UTC
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Arsenio Hall (left) and Eddie Murphy (center) from 'Coming to America,' Director John Landis (right)Credit: Paramount/Courtesy Everett; Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock; Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch via Getty -
During the filming of 1988's Coming to America, a tense moment between Eddie Murphy and director John Landis led to a physical fight
Arsenio Hall was called in to help smooth things over, with the film's future in jeopardy
Hall laughs as he recalls his unorthodox way of handling the situation to Esquire and how it helped production resume
A conflict on the Coming to America set came on a particularly inconvenient day for Arsenio Hall.
The actor, 70, recently sat down with Esquire, where he recalled an argument on the film's set between director John Landis and Eddie Murphy. The argument took place on a day when Hall wasn't needed on set, so he was enjoying personal time when he got a phone call about the issue.
"The last thing you want when you're about to have a ménage à trois is to answer a phone call from a man named Ned," he laughs. Ned Tanen, the chairman of Paramount at the time, instructed Hall to "Go find your friend," saying, "I think Eddie hurt John Landis."
The thought of a physical altercation hadn't even occurred to Hall, who replied, "What do you mean? Hurt his feelings?"
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Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall in 'Coming to America'Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock
Hall explains that Tanen had a car ready to bring him to Murphy's house, where he shared his side of the story with Hall.
"It had happened outside, I think, maybe in front of the McDowell's set. I guess they were fans and Eddie signing autographs and John Landis said something to him in front of these people. It was one of those things where if they were private, it might have gone down different, but you front me off in front of all these people. And I think that was the issue."
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Hall says he tried to get Murphy's mind off things by offering him a drink and a joint, two things the actor didn't engage in at that time. He ultimately agreed to the drink and the two let the conversation go elsewhere, lightening the mood.
"The problem is that Landis quit. And at that moment, Coming to America was not going to be finished. If Landis hadn't have come back, the legendary film Coming to America would not have been what it is. He was the heartbeat of that movie," Hall explained.
"He has his first drink. I'm the devil. And eventually, I get him to hit a joint. And before you know it, this is when I knew that we were going to have peace," he laughed. "He said, 'I love that dog.' "
John Landis and Eddie MurphyCredit: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock
"Cannabis, the hero of the conflict," Hall laughs.
Murphy agreed to "get this movie back on track," and after two days, things were back to normal.
"Ned called and said, 'You're a hero. I don't know what you did, but you're a hero.' I didn't do nothing. Somehow, he realized that there was a bigger mission, and he had to put the anger aside and make it happen."
When Hall returned to the set, he recalls, "I was trying to pronounce rhinoceros pizzle and a young Sam Jackson was on the ground, under my rifle. And I remember Landis during lunch saying, "He's going to be the best. He going to be great. He's a wonderful young actor.' And Samuel Jackson is great."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
