The 1997 Eddie Murphy scandal that involved a transgender sex worker and police intervention
An aura of uncertainty still revolves around that night, during the prime of Murphy’s career.
There weren’t many American actors who were more popular than Eddie Murphy in the 1990s. After a strong start to his entertainment career with Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s, Murphy parlayed that into several high-profile acting gigs throughout the 1980s, 90s and 2000s.
But on one fateful night in 1997, it almost all came crashing down. Married to Nicole Mitchell with three children together at the time, Murphy was stopped by police in the early hours of May 2, 1997 . Police had been tracking a sex worker who had entered his vehicle .
The transgender sex worker was called Shalimar Seiuli , also known as Atisone Seiuli , and was being surveilled by police authorities for prostitution suspicion. Murphy wasn’t charged with any crime, but Seiuli was sentenced to 90 days in jail on prostitution charges - from a prior outstanding warrant .
According to Murphy’s publicist, the actor was only trying to be a “good Samaritan” by giving Seiuli a ride home . No one really bought that, and the incident followed Murphy for quite a bit of time after it happened. In fact, his former employers at SNL ended up parodying the incident for an episode.
Adding to the intrigue surrounding that event was Seiuli’s untimely death less than a year later . Seiuli was found dead on the sidewalk outside of her building, wearing only a bra, pants, and a towel. It’s believed that she had gotten locked out of her apartment and attempted to swing down on a rope from the roof to an open window. She allegedly fell five stories during the attempt and suffered severe head trauma, which led to her death.
