Eddie Murphy finally lifts the curtain on his early exit from 2007 Oscars: 'He stole'

Eddie Murphy has revealed why he left the 2007 Oscars early after he lost for Dreamgirls.

For those unaware, the 64-year-old American actor and comedian played the role of James Early in the 2006 musical drama film Dreamgirls, which earned him his first Academy Award nomination in the category of Best Supporting Actor.

However, Murphy lost to Alan Arkin, who portrayed Edwin Hoover in Little Miss Sunshine.

Now conversing with Entertainment Weekly to promote his newly released documentary Being Eddie, he said, "What happened was I was at the Oscars, I had lost, and then people kept coming over to me and kept [patting] me on the shoulder.”

The Beverly Hills Cop star shared, "Clint Eastwood came and rubbed my shoulder. And I was like, oh, no, no, I'm not gonna be this guy all night. Let's just leave. I didn't storm out. I was like, I'm not gonna be the sympathy guy all night.”

Murphy went on to state that he already knew Arkin would win the Oscar even when they were not nominated because the late actor was "hysterically funny" as Hoover.

He explained, "Jeff Katzenberg invited me over to see Little Miss Sunshine six months before it came out in the theaters, and I literally watched the movie and I watched Alan — and I hadn't been nominated or anything yet — and I watched the movie and I turned to Jeff afterwards and I said, 'Now that performance right there is one of those performances that will steal somebody's Oscar.'"

"I said those exact words. I was like, 'He could steal somebody's Oscar,' then he stole mine,” Murphy jokingly said, then clarified, “No, I don't feel like he stole mine."