Quite the clan! Eddie Murphy has welcomed 10 children over the years — and he’s spoken highly about each member of his blended brood.
“I am so blessed with my kids. I don’t have one bad seed,” the Saturday Night Live alum said during a March 2021 appearance on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast. “I don’t have any like ‘Oh, you are the one.’ I don’t have any of that. My kids are so great, normal people — and nobody is like the Hollywood jerk kid.”
The New York native added that his offspring served as a compass for him over the years, helping him choose projects that were right for him.
“The whole idea of being out there and doing three movies a year, that s— is over … along the way, I realized that if you put your children first you never make a bad decision,” the comedian shared. “When you hit a crossroads moment or you have got some s—, you think, ‘Well, what is best for my children?’ If you go that route, then you never make a bad decision.”
Murphy became a father for the first time in July 1989 when his then-girlfriend Paulette McNeely gave birth to their son, Eric. The comedian then welcomed two more children within the next 16 months — daughter Bria in November 1989 with Nicole Mitchell and son Christian in November 1990 with Tamara Hood.
The Nutty Professor star married Mitchell in March 1993 and the pair became proud parents to five children, including Bria, over the course of their relationship: son Miles, born in November 1992, and daughters Shayne, Zola and Bella born in October 1994, December 1999 and January 2002, respectively. In August 2005, Mitchell filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences.” The duo finalized their split the following April.
The Golden Globe winner moved on with former Spice Girl Mel B after his divorce. When the England native became pregnant in 2006, Murphy insisted on a paternity test. Mel B gave birth to Angel in April 2007 and a subsequent test confirmed that the Dreamgirls actor was the child’s father.
Despite some drama at the beginning of their coparenting journey, the Emmy winner and the “Spice Up Your Life” musician have spoken highly of each other over the years.
“He’s such a loving, caring, respectful person,” the “Tell Me” singer said of Murphy during a December 2018 appearance on Steve Harvey’s syndicated talk show. “It took a while to get there because we broke up not in the happiest circumstances.”
The Trading Places actor expanded his family further in May 2016 when he welcomed daughter Izzy with model Paige Butcher, whom he began dating in 2012. The duo — who got engaged in September 2018 — also share son Max, born in November 2018.
Murphy has joked about his plentiful progeny in the past.
“Men kind of look at me like, ‘He’s crazy. How much did that s—t cost?’ And women, it’s kind of, like, something sexy about it, I think. ‘Eddie Murphy must be doing his thing. Eddie Murphy be getting it in,’” the Mark Twain Prize recipient joked during a December 2019 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, adding, “I like it. I’m happy with it.”
Scroll through to see Murphy’s 10 children:
Quite the clan! Eddie Murphy has welcomed 10 children over the years — and he’s spoken highly about each member of his blended brood.
“I am so blessed with my kids. I don’t have one bad seed,” the Saturday Night Live alum said during a March 2021 appearance on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast. “I don’t have any like ‘Oh, you are the one.’ I don’t have any of that. My kids are so great, normal people — and nobody is like the Hollywood jerk kid.”
The New York native added that his offspring served as a compass for him over the years, helping him choose projects that were right for him.
“The whole idea of being out there and doing three movies a year, that s— is over … along the way, I realized that if you put your children first you never make a bad decision,” the comedian shared. “When you hit a crossroads moment or you have got some s—, you think, ‘Well, what is best for my children?’ If you go that route, then you never make a bad decision.”
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Murphy became a father for the first time in July 1989 when his then-girlfriend Paulette McNeely gave birth to their son, Eric. The comedian then welcomed two more children within the next 16 months — daughter Bria in November 1989 with Nicole Mitchell and son Christian in November 1990 with Tamara Hood.
The Nutty Professor star married Mitchell in March 1993 and the pair became proud parents to five children, including Bria, over the course of their relationship: son Miles, born in November 1992, and daughters Shayne, Zola and Bella born in October 1994, December 1999 and January 2002, respectively. In August 2005, Mitchell filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences.” The duo finalized their split the following April.
The Golden Globe winner moved on with former Spice Girl Mel B after his divorce. When the England native became pregnant in 2006, Murphy insisted on a paternity test. Mel B gave birth to Angel in April 2007 and a subsequent test confirmed that the Dreamgirls actor was the child’s father.
Despite some drama at the beginning of their coparenting journey, the Emmy winner and the “Spice Up Your Life” musician have spoken highly of each other over the years.
“He’s such a loving, caring, respectful person,” the “Tell Me” singer said of Murphy during a December 2018 appearance on Steve Harvey’s syndicated talk show. “It took a while to get there because we broke up not in the happiest circumstances.”
The Trading Places actor expanded his family further in May 2016 when he welcomed daughter Izzy with model Paige Butcher, whom he began dating in 2012. The duo — who got engaged in September 2018 — also share son Max, born in November 2018.
Murphy has joked about his plentiful progeny in the past.
“Men kind of look at me like, ‘He’s crazy. How much did that s—t cost?’ And women, it’s kind of, like, something sexy about it, I think. ‘Eddie Murphy must be doing his thing. Eddie Murphy be getting it in,’” the Mark Twain Prize recipient joked during a December 2019 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, adding, “I like it. I’m happy with it.”
Scroll through to see Murphy’s 10 children:
Credit: Courtesy Eric Murphy/Instagram
Eric
“Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there. Extremely grateful for mine!! 🙏❤️🖤 ,” Murphy’s oldest son captioned a June 2021 Instagram snap of him and the Dolemite Is My Name actor.
Credit: Courtesy Bria Murphy/Instagram
Bria
The Shrek star’s first child with Mitchell got married to actor Michael Xavier in July 2022.
“Daddy’s girl forever,” Bria captioned Instagram photos of the father-daughter dance during the wedding ceremony.
Credit: Courtesy Christian Murphy/Instagram
Christian
Christian shared photos of him with Murphy and all his siblings in December 2019.
“Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and happy holiday season from my family to yours,” he captioned the Instagram snaps.
Credit: Courtesy Carly Murphy/Instagram
Miles
Miles became a father himself in July 2019, welcoming daughter Evie with girlfriend Carly Fink.
“There’s no sweeter blessing than seeing your grandchild,” Murphy told Vanity Fair in January 2020.
Credit: Courtesy Shayne Murphy/Instagram
Shayne
The California native shared a throwback photo of her dad in April 2017. “The coolest man I’ll ever know,” she captioned the black and white Instagram snap.
Credit: Courtesy Zola Murphy/Instagram
Zola
Zola describes herself as a “writer” in her Instagram bio.
Credit: Courtesy Bella Murphy/Instagram
Bella
The youngest of Murphy and Mitchell’s children appeared in Coming 2 America alongside her father in March 2021.
“I was very nervous,” Bella told Entertainment Tonight one month prior to the film’s release. “I didn’t want people to think that I was just doing this because I can. I didn’t want people to watch it and be like, ‘Oh, that’s his daughter because she can’t keep up with everyone,’ you know? … I wanted my performance to be really good.”
Credit: courtesy Mel B/Instagram
Angel
When Mel B underwent emergency surgery for two broken ribs in December 2018, Murphy took care of their daughter.
“Angel is very well cared for. Eddie and Angel have been spending a lot of time together in recent months,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly at the time.
Credit: Jim Ruymen/UPI/Shutterstock
Izzy
Murphy welcomed his first child with Butcher in May 2016. “Both mother and daughter are doing well,” a rep told Us at the time.
Credit: Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
Max
One month after welcoming his youngest son in November 2018, the Dr. Dolittle actor posed for his first-ever public photo with all 10 of his children.
Murphy held then-2-year-old Izzy in his arms for the holiday portrait.