Netflix will begin streaming "The 51st AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Eddie Murphy" on May 31, 2026, replaying the ceremony held April 18 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
The special captures Murphy receiving the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award and a night of tributes that included appearances by Bill Burr, Kevin Hart, Eva Longoria, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Kenan Thompson, with Spike Lee delivering the final tribute.
AFI calls the Life Achievement Award a recognition of a lifetime of work in cinema; Murphy was its 51st recipient. The event brought a mix of comedians and collaborators to the Dolby Theatre — attendees mentioned at the ceremony included Mike Myers, Stevie Wonder, Dave Chappelle and Tracy Morgan.
Netflix secured exclusive streaming rights to the AFI special, the organization announced on March 31, 2026, and the platform’s run will mark the first time an AFI Life Achievement Award special airs directly on a streaming service.
The June release date turns the live, star-studded April ceremony into a packaged special for a global streaming audience. Lee summed up Murphy’s place on the stage when he praised him for "having been true to himself, prioritizing his family and for being a ‘great artist’" during his final onstage tribute.
The broadcast presents the night as both a personal honor and a catalogue of Murphy’s influence. Reporting on the April ceremony called him a "comedy trailblazer" and said his career "spans SNL, ‘Beverly Hills Cop’, ‘Shrek’, and more iconic" turns across stand-up, television and film.
For viewers who missed the Dolby Theatre event, Netflix’s exclusive window is the only officially announced way to see the AFI tribute in full. The special replays the American Film Institute’s tribute to Murphy, packaging the speeches, clips and performances into a single program for streaming audiences.
The shift to streaming highlights a change in how landmark film honors are distributed. The AFI Life Achievement Award has long been one of the highest American honors for a career in cinema, presented in a theatrical ceremony; placing the tribute on Netflix makes this particular edition of the award available beyond the industry insiders and invited audience who attended on April 18.
That contrast — an in-person gala and a later streaming premiere under exclusive rights — creates a friction point for observers who track how film institutions engage the public. The ceremony’s star power underscores the award’s cultural weight, while Netflix’s exclusivity determines who gets to watch the full tribute and when.
Beginning May 31, viewers worldwide will be able to stream the full tribute and judge for themselves how the live event translates to the screen. The move cements a new distribution path for AFI specials: a ceremony staged on a Los Angeles stage and, weeks later, made widely available on a single streaming platform.
For Eddie Murphy, the screening on Netflix extends the reach of an honor that recognizes a career spanning stand-up, television and cinema; the streaming premiere ensures that his AFI tribute will be seen by an audience far larger than the Dolby Theatre on April 18.
