The documentary, I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, provides insight on the former SNL star’s on-set meltdown. This CNN special details an incident on the Community set in 2012 that resulted in Chevy leaving the hit TV show.
Community director Jay Chandrasekhar gives his account of the 2012 occurrence when Chevy used the N-word. He recalls the National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation star worried immediately about the fallout.
A witness claims Chevy Chase worried his career was “ruined”
Jay says he “was there, directing, the night that Chevy Chase got fired from Community.” A “blackface” hand puppet bit written for Chevy’s character, Pierce Hawthorne, spurred the incident, the director said.
Frustrated with his dialogue as Pierce, Chevy used the N-word while questioning the scene, according to The Hollywood Reporter. THR noted that the slur was not directed at co-stars Yvette Nicole Brown and Donald Glover, who are Black.
In the documentary, Jay said, “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.’”
After returning to the set, Chevy claimed he “didn’t say anything,” Jay recalls. The actor said he would call comedian Richard Pryor the N-word, and he called Chevy “The Honky, and we loved each other.” When Jay asked Chevy to apologize to Yvette, he answered, “For what?”
After the incident was leaked following filming, Chevy had a “full meltdown,” Jay recalls, with him “storming onto the set, and he goes, ‘Who f*cked me over?’ … ‘My career is ruined! I’m ruined!’ Like, it’s a full meltdown. ‘F*ck all of you!’ And I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s shoot the scene.’ He never ended up coming back after that.”
Production on Community was then paused, Chevy was reportedly forced to issue an apology and he left the series after Season 4.
I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not premieres January 1 at 8 p.m. EST on CNN.
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