Chevy Chase recently participated in a joint interview with The New York Times alongside Marina Zenovich, the director of CNN’s new documentary “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not,” and was asked about how the film depicts Chase’s tumultuous time on “.” Chase had a regular role on the NBC sitcom and exited after season 4 amid a public argument with creator Dan Harmon over creative differences and an incident in which he allegedly said the N-word on set.
“It wasn’t a bad experience. I just didn’t think the show was that good,” Chase told the Times of the series.
When asked what he thought about the end of his role, Chase replied, “I thought it ended well. »
“It was too big a misunderstanding of what I was saying and what I wasn’t saying,” Chase later added of his exit. “I thought there was at least one person – and another who, for some ungodly reason, didn’t understand me, didn’t know who I was, or didn’t realize for a second that I wasn’t racist. They were too young to know my work. Instead, there was a sort of visceral reaction from them.”
As recounted in the documentary and the Times: “During production on Season 4, Chase became frustrated with his character’s growing intolerance, particularly a storyline in which the character did a bit with a blackface puppet. The documentary recounts allegations that Chase, frustrated, asked whether his character would then be forced to use a racial slur, and allegedly uttered that slur in reference. He abruptly left the show.”
“Community” director Jay Chandrasekhar is interviewed in the documentary and says Chase had a “meltdown” on set after an incident, in which he allegedly used the N-word on set, was leaked to the press. The alleged incident took place between Chase and his co-star Yvette Nicole Brown, with Chandrasekhar explaining: “I know there was history between [Chevy and Yvette] around the race, and she got up and stormed out of there. Chevrolet storms off, so the producer says, “We need Yvette in the scene, don’t we?” I’m like, ‘Yeah, she’s in the next scene.’ And he says, “Well, she’s not coming out unless Chevrolet apologizes to her.” »
Chandrasekhar said Chevrolet eventually returned to the set, but claimed he “didn’t say anything” to upset Brown, adding: “[Chevy] “You know, me and Richard Pryor, I called Richard Pryor the N-word, and he called me The Honky, and we loved each other. “And I’m like, ‘I know, man, I love it.’ I said, ‘You know, can we just have a little apology?’ He said: “For what?” »
The incident was later reported by The Hollywood Reporter, who claimed that Chase was “frustrated” with his character arc and used the N-word “when questioning dialogue.” The report points out that Chase did not use racial slurs directly against his black co-stars Brown and Donald Glover, although both actors were reportedly on set at the time.
Chandrasekhar said that when production resumed after the THR story broke, Chase arrived on set and had a “complete meltdown” as he came “barging onto the set, and he’s like, ‘Who fucked me?’ …My career is ruined! I’m ruined! It feels like a total collapse. “Fuck you all!” And I’m like, “Okay, let’s shoot the scene.” » He never came back after that.
Zenovich already said Variety that she tried to get more members of Chase’s “Community” cast and crew involved in the documentary, but “everyone said no” because “there are things people don’t want to talk about.”
As the ‘Community’ incident resurfaced over the ‘I’m Chevy Chase and you’re not,’ Yvette Nicole Brown took to Instagram and appeared to respond to it, writing, “There are things I’ve never spoken about publicly and maybe never will. Anyone currently speaking FOR or ABOUT me with perceived authority is speaking without EVER telling me about the things they claim to know. In fact, they don’t really know me at all.”
Donald Glover notably told the New Yorker in 2018 that Chase repeatedly made racist jokes on the “Community” set. Chase, meanwhile, told CBS Sunday Morning in 2022 that he “doesn’t care” about headlines and former co-stars describing him as problematic on set, adding at the time: “I don’t care. I am who I am. And I love who I am. I don’t care. And it’s part of me that I don’t care. And I’ve thought about it a lot. And I don’t know what to tell you, man. I don’t care. sheet.
Visit the New York Times website to read Chase’s latest interview in full.
