Comedy legend and “Saturday Night Live” alum Chevy Chase has always been a polarizing figure. While there is no denying his comedy golden days, tales of his behavior behind the scenes have led to some serious issues.
CNN’s new authorized documentary “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not,” directed by Marina Zenovich, sheds light on the incident that led Chase to leave “Community.”
In the documentary, “Community” director and actor Jay Chandrasekhar tells his side of Chase’s infamous 2012 N-word incident. Chandrasekhar “was there, directing, the night that Chevy Chase got fired from ‘Community.’”
The outrage began when the episode they were shooting involved a “blackface” hand puppet controlled by Chase’s character, Pierce Hawthorne. While he did hear Chase say “something” to co-star Yvette Nicole Brown (Shirley), he couldn’t hear exactly what was said.
Following his firing from the show, Chase claimed he was “frustrated” with how racist Pierce had become. An unnamed source who claimed to have been present during the incident said Chase used the N-word when “questioning the dialogue” in a scene including Donald Glover and Brown. The source claimed Chase’s use of the slur was not directed at his co-stars, even though they are both Black.
Chandrasekhar’s Recollection
“I know that there was a history between [Chevy and Yvette] around race, and she got up and stormed out of there. Chevy storms off, so the producer is like, ‘We need Yvette in the scene, right?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, she’s in the next scene.’ And he goes, ‘Well, she won’t come out unless Chevy apologizes to her,’ ” Chandrasekhar explained.
The situation got even worse when Chase returned to the set and claimed he “didn’t say anything.”
“He goes, ‘You know, me and Richard Pryor, I used to call Richard Pryor the N-word, and he used to call me The Honky, and we loved each other.’ And I’m like, ‘I know, man, I love that bit.’ I said, ‘You know, can we just have a little apology?’ He goes, ‘For what?’ ” Chandrasekhar said.
After filming wrapped, the whole thing was leaked to The Hollywood Reporter. When the cast returned to set, Chase had a “full meltdown.” According to Chandrasekhar, he was “storming onto the set, and he goes, ‘Who f—– me over?’ … ‘My career is ruined! I’m ruined!’ Like, it’s a full meltdown. ‘F— all of you!’”
“And I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s shoot the scene.’ He never ended up coming back after that.”
The Aftermath
Due to obvious on-set tensions, production on “Community” was put on a brief pause. Chase was allegedly forced to give an apology and left the show after season 4, sans one brief appearance in a 2014 episode.
This had been a long time coming, given Chase’s open feud with series creator Dan Harmon. “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not” recalls another serious incident involving the actor, Harmon, cast, and crew.
“It was out in the open that Chevy Chase was a little difficult on ‘Community,’ and I’m being nice. People were talking about it, enough that Dan did that thing at the wrap party,” Chandrasekhar said.
He is referring to a “Community” party where Chase brought his wife Jayni Chase and daughter Caley Chase. Harmon reportedly encouraged all guests to make an obscene chant when Chase entered the room.
“My dad was super excited to bring me and my mom to the wrap party,” Caley recalled. “We walk in, Dan, he had had some drinks. He had gotten the whole cast and crew to yell, ‘F—- you, Chevy!’ ‘F—- you, Chevy!’ “
“I’m there, he’s showing his daughter, like, ‘This is the show I did,’ and we walk in to ‘F—- you, Chevy!’ That’s rough. And mean,” she said.
“I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not” premieres on CNN January 1st.
