“” director Jay Chandrasekhar is interviewed in the upcoming CNN documentary “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not” and recalls that he “was there, directing, the night that Chevy Chase got fired” from the NBC sitcom (via People). Chandrasekhar, who is best known for his work with the Broken Lizard comedy group, said the actor had a “meltdown” on set after an incident in which he used the N-word on set leaked to the press.
The alleged incident occurred between Chase and co-star Yvette Nicole Brown, with Chandrasekhar explaining: “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 Chevy eventually returned to the set but claimed he “didn’t say anything” to upset Brown, adding: “[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?’”
Whatever was said by Chase on the “Community” set happened during a “blackface” hand puppet bit written for the comedian’s character, Pierce Hawthorne, Chandrasekhar said. The incident was later reported on by The Hollywood Reporter, who claimed Chase was “frustrated” with his character arc and used the N-word “when questioning the dialogue.” The report stressed that Chase did not use the racial slur directly at 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 “full meltdown” as he came “storming onto the set, and he goes, ‘Who fucked me over?’ … My career is ruined! I’m ruined!’ Like, it’s a full meltdown. ‘Fuck all of you!’ And I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s shoot the scene.’ He never ended up coming back after that.”
Variety has reached out to Chase’s representative for further comment.
Glover told The New Yorker in 2018 that Chase repeatedly made racist jokes on the “Community” set. According to the profile, Chase “often tried to disrupt” his scenes with Glover by making “racial cracks between takes,” one of which was the following: “People think you’re funnier because you’re Black.”
“Chevy was the first to realize how immensely gifted Donald was, and the way he expressed his jealousy was to try to throw Donald off,” “Community” creator Dan Harmon said at the time. “I remember apologizing to Donald after a particularly rough night of Chevy’s non-P.C. verbiage, and Donald said, ‘I don’t even worry about it.’”
Glover interpreted Chase’s racist cracks as the comedian “thrashing in the water,” adding, “I just saw Chevy as fighting time—a true artist has to be ok with his reign being over. I can’t help him if he’s thrashing in the water. But I know there’s a human in there somewhere—he’s almost too human.”
Chase told CBS Sunday Morning in 2022 that he “doesn’t give a crap” about headlines and former co-stars painting him as problematic on set, adding at the time: “I don’t give a crap. 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.”
Chase exited “Community” after Season 4 following the N-word incident and a public spat with Harmon over creative differences. Chandrasekhar says in the CNN documentary that “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,” referring to when Harmon got party guests to chant “Fuck you, Chevy!”
“My dad was super excited to bring me and my mom to the wrap party,” Chevy’s daughter Caley says in the documentary. “We walk in, Dan, he had had some drinks. He had gotten the whole cast and crew to yell, ‘Fuck you, Chevy!’ ‘Fuck you, Chevy!’ I’m there, he’s showing his daughter, like, ‘This is the show I did,’ and we walk in to ‘Fuck you, Chevy!’ That’s rough and mean.”
“I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not” director Marina Zenovich told Variety that she tried to get more of Chase’s “Community” cast members and crew members to participate in the documentary but “every single person said no” because “there are things people don’t want to talk about.”
“I ran into Dan Harmon at a screening of ‘Deaf President Now!’ and I got his number,” she added. “I was so excited. I thought it was going to happen, but then he declined. I was so lucky to get Jay Chandrasekhar. He has such an amazing delivery and he was willing to go there. If Jay had said no, I would have been screwed.”
“I’m Chevy Chase, and You’re Not” airs Jan. 1 on CNN.
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