A new documentary is shedding more light on what led to Chevy Chase leaving Community.
The 82-year-old actor starred as Pierce Hawthorne through the first four seasons of the TV series, before exiting mid-season four.
Back in 2018, it was reported that Chevy made racist jokes towards co-star Donald Glover, including the use of a racial slur.
In the upcoming I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not documentary, director Jay Chandrasekhar recalled witnessing the incident and shared new details about what happened.
Keep reading to find out more…
Jay, who helmed several episodes of Community, says that he was on set the day Chevy was fired from the comedy show.
The director recalled that Chevy said something to co-star Yvette Nicole Brown, but didn’t hear what he said.
THR previously reported that Chase was “frustrated” about the direction of where his character was going on used the N-word “when questioning the dialogue,” with Glover and Brown present, but “the slur was not directed at them.”
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.’”
He said the actor then returned to set but 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?’” Jay recalled, who then recounted that someone leaked there was a racial incident on set, leading to Chase having a “full meltdown.”
Jay shared that Chevy came “storming onto the set, and he goes, ‘Who f–ked me over?’ … ‘My career is ruined! I’m ruined!’ Like, it’s a full meltdown. ‘F–k all of you!’”
“And I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s shoot the scene.’ He never ended up coming back after that,” the director said.
Back in 2023, Chevy slammed the show and said that Community was not “funny enough” for him.
