Charlie Murphy’s legendary Prince basketball story confirmed again

Charlie Murphy’s legendary story about how Prince once beat him at a game of basketball and then made pancakes has once again been confirmed to be true.

In the early 2000s, during an episode of Chappelle’s Show, Charlie – the late brother of comedian Eddie Murphy – recalled the time he and his friends faced off against Prince on a court at his condo.

Prince, who is said to have played in a pair of heels, came out on top, and according to Charlie’s story, after the win he went made pancakes for everyone.

Howard Hewett, a former member of ’80s R&B group Shalama, recently sat down with DJ Vlad for an interview, and during the conversation he revealed the events in Charlie Murphy’s infamous story did in fact happen.

“I wasn’t there, but they met up at this place that everybody used to go to called El Privado’s down on Sunset Boulevard. Every Monday night everybody used to hangout there Rick James, Prince everybody,” Hewett said. “The next day Micki [Free, former Shalama guitarist] calls me and tells me, ‘Man we saw Short Cat up at El Privados, and they invited us up to the house, well he was with Prince. We saw Eddie and Charlie Murphy and invited them up to the house to go play.’”

He continued: “Once they got up there listening to music and all that, Prince says, ‘You want to play some basketball?’ And Micki said ‘Man he came out cause Eddie and them basketball ready and then Prince came out in his heels.’ That boy, he can ball in heels, almost dunking. Micki told me after they got done he told me [Prince] was like, ‘I’ll make some pancakes.’”

Meanwhile, the estate of Prince has been valued at US$156.4million (£114.3m), exceeding the original $82.3million (£61m) estimate given by its administrator, Comerica Bank & Trust.

In 2020, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had also provided an estimate of $163.2million. Now, according to The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the six-year legal battle over the pop superstar’s assets has come to an end, with both organisations reaching a final agreement on its worth.

Prince – who died in 2016 from a fentanyl overdose, leaving no will – had six sibling heirs, two of whom, Alfred Jackson and John R. Nelson, have since died. Two others are currently in their eighties. Since the passing of the ‘Purple Rain’ star, millions of dollars have been paid to administer his estate and provide a plan for its distribution.

The heirs have reportedly accepted the final figure.