Chevy Chase Claps Back at ‘Community’ Drama: Claims the Show “Wasn’t That Good” and Denies Racism
Chevy Chase recently talked with The New York Times about the CNN documentary “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not,” directed by Marina Zenovich.
The film looks at Chase’s long career and some of the controversies he’s been involved in, including his time on the NBC sitcom “Community.” Chase had a regular role on the show but left after Season 4 following a public fight with creator Dan Harmon and an incident where he reportedly said the N-word on set.
Chase told The Times that working on the show wasn’t a bad experience, but he didn’t think the show was very good. “It wasn’t a bad experience. I just didn’t think it was that good, the show,” he said. When asked about his departure, he added, “I thought it ended great.”
He also explained his side of the conflict, saying, “It was too great a misunderstanding of what I was saying and not saying. I thought that there was at least one person — and another who, for some ungodly reason, didn’t get me, didn’t know who I was, or didn’t realize for one second I’m not racist. They were too young to be aware of my work. Instead, there was some sort of visceral reaction from them.”
The documentary describes how Chase got frustrated during Season 4 with his character’s growing bigotry, especially a storyline involving a blackface puppet. The film says that Chase reportedly asked if his character would next use a racial slur and allegedly used that slur himself in frustration. He then abruptly left the show.
Jay Chandrasekhar, who directed “Community,” is also interviewed in the documentary. He said Chase had a meltdown on set after the incident, which leaked to the press. Chandrasekhar explained that the argument happened between Chase and co-star Yvette Nicole Brown.
“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 said.
Chandrasekhar said that when Chase returned to the set, he didn’t apologize and insisted he hadn’t upset Brown. “[Chevy] 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?’”
The Hollywood Reporter later wrote that Chase was frustrated with his character and used the N-word while questioning dialogue, but not directly at his Black co-stars, including Brown and Donald Glover, who were on set at the time. Chandrasekhar described how, after the story came out, Chase returned to set in a rage. “He goes, ‘Who f*** me over?’ … My career is ruined! I’m ruined! … F*ck all of you!’ And I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s shoot the scene.’ He never ended up coming back after that,” Chandrasekhar said.
Zenovich told Variety that she tried to get more of the “Community” cast and crew to appear in the documentary, but everyone refused. “Every single person said no because there are things people don’t want to talk about,” she said.
As the documentary brought up the incident again, Yvette Nicole Brown spoke on Instagram, hinting at her side of the story. “There are things I’ve never spoken of publicly and perhaps never will. Anyone currently speaking FOR or ABOUT me with perceived authority is speaking without EVER speaking to me about the things they claim to know about. They actually don’t really know me at all,” she wrote.
Donald Glover has previously said in The New Yorker that Chase made racist jokes on set. Chase, however, told CBS Sunday Morning in 2022 that he doesn’t care about the headlines or what former co-stars say.
“I don’t give a c***. I am who I am. And I like who I am. I don’t care. And it’s part of me that I don’t care. And I’ve thought about that a lot. And I don’t know what to tell you, man. I just don’t care,” he said.
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