Eddie Murphy turned down an invite to play Bill Cosby on the Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary special, cast member and writer Norm Macdonald has revealed.

The funnyman was approached to do an impression of the Cosby Show star, who has been accused of sexual assault, but decided against it.

Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby (Evan Vucci/AP)

Instead, Eddie – who joined Saturday Night Live in 1981 when he was 19 and left in 1985 – made a brief appearance on the show to say what the programme meant to him.

Norm shared the writing process leading up to the anniversary show on Twitter.

But Norm admitted he doesn’t hold any grudge against Eddie for his decision.

SNL’s 40th birthday show featured a host of stars past and present including Bradley Cooper, Justin Timberlake, Betty White, Will Ferrell, Jerry Seinfeld, Taylor Swift, Kerry Washington, Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey.