Eddie Murphy with his girlfriend, Paige Butcher; daughter Bria Murphy; ex-wife, Nicole Murphy; and daughter Shayne Murphy on July 25. (Photo: Getty Images)
Source: Yahoo
Time heals all wounds — at least that’s the case for Eddie Murphy and his ex-wife, Nicole Murphy.
The exes put on a united front Monday as they supported their eldest daughter, Bria, 26, at the premiere of her movie Amateur Night. The funnyman — with ladylove Paige Butcher by his side — greeted Nicole, with whom he has five children, with a kiss on the red carpet at ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood. The Beverly Hills Cop star, his girlfriend, ex-wife, and two daughters (also including Shayne Audra, 21) then happily posed for a photo together.
Cordial kisses. Eddie, with Butcher by his side, greeted Nicole with a kiss. (Photo: Getty Images)
As if the modern family photo op wasn’t a big enough deal, Monday also marked the first red carpet outing for Eddie, 55, and Paige, 37, since they welcomed their first child. The blonde — who, like Nicole, is a model — gave birth to Eddie’s ninth child, a daughter named Izzy Oona Murphy, on May 3 after more than four years of dating.
Yes, this woman had a baby in May. (Photo: Getty Images)
While Eddie has had drama with some of his exes (see: Mel B. and Tracey Edmonds), his relationship with Nicole has been friendlier. The two first met back in 1988 at the NAACP Image Awards, and the Saturday Night Live alum was quickly smitten. “I turned to my accountant and said, ‘Her I would marry tomorrow — without a prenuptial,” he told People magazine before clarifying with a smile, “That’s what I said. I’ll always have a prenuptial.”
Eddie’s relationship with Nicole had hiccups from the start, however. Bria was born soon after, and he kept his distance, putting up his then-girlfriend and their baby in a mansion in Sacramento and sporadically flying in from New Jersey, where he was still living the bachelor life. By the time the girl turned 2, Eddie, who already had two children with two exes, started to get serious about fatherhood. A year later, he married Nicole at the Plaza Hotel in New York.
However, marriage didn’t give them a happily-ever-after ending. In 1997, Eddie was pulled over at 4:45 a.m. in L.A. with a transsexual prostitute in his car. (He famously said he was playing the late-night Good Samaritan.) But it wasn’t until 2005 that Nicole filed for divorce. Their divorce was finalized a year later, but Nicole lost a big chunk of her settlement in a bizarre con scheme. (Eddie and Nicole’s five children also include Miles, 23; Zola, 16; and Bella, 13.)
Eddie and Nicole with three of their children in 2003, when they were still married. (Photo: Getty Images)
Eddie and Nicole soon moved on to other relationships. He had a short-lived romance with Spice Girl Melanie Brown (when she announced she was pregnant with their daughter, he publicly questioned whether the baby was his) and exchanged marriage vows with film producer Edmonds in 2008 (but it was never a legal marriage). He started dating Butcher in 2012. Meanwhile, Nicole was engaged to Michael Strahan and linked to Nick Cannon last year.
Eddie and Nicole previously reunited on the red carpet in 2011 to support Bria when she was named brand ambassador for Dark and Lovely hair products. While their eldest is dipping her toes into the acting world — her other credits include mostly small TV roles and a part in the 2015 movie Conflict of Interest — modeling seems to be her big love. In 2013, she told ABC News that her “dream” is to model for Victoria’s Secret.
Friendly exes Eddie and Nicole also came together for Bria in 2011. Shayne, an aspiring model, was also there. (Photo: Getty Images)
As for Bria’s relationship with her father, while it started out troubled, it has since been mended. On Father’s Day, she paid tribute to the notoriously private actor on Instagram, calling him “my king” and the “best father on the planet.”
