Community alum Yvette Nicole Brown is raising eyebrows for her latest social media post.
Days before CNN releases a documentary centered on Chevy Chase titled I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, one former cast member appears to be addressing the project — without naming names.
“Do your own work so you don’t become labor for others. That is my motto,” Brown, 54, wrote via Instagram on Monday, December 29. “Beyond that truth, if I have something to say, I have NO problem saying it. I’ve never had a problem speaking up and out with my whole chest when it is warranted or when I think it will change a wayward mind or some truly disgusting behavior. When I choose NOT to speak on something, it’s usually because it won’t change a thing and more importantly because it’s most likely tawdry, low-vibrational or dumb and therefore BENEATH me.”
Brown starred alongside Chase, 82, when she played Shirley Bennett in NBC’s comedy series Community. No one in the cast agreed to participate in the documentary, which details the events that led to Chase’s firing from the show in 2012, midway through its fourth season.
“I don’t sully myself for anyone. We don’t defile over here,” Brown wrote in her latest post. “And when someone chooses to sully or defile themselves, I let them — BIG age or not. And they need to fully own what they alone have done without placing blame or looking for scapegoats. Don’t smear any of that mess over here for clout or reputation rehabilitation. This side of the street remains clean.”
The actress continued, “Read between whatever lines you need to, but before you run anywhere with anything I’ve said here, make sure YOU know what YOU’RE talking about, too. Mmkay? I will not be saying another word about any of this mess… again, because it is beneath me. No one else should be chiming in on MY behalf, either. #RunTelDat.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Brown and Chase’s team for additional comment.
According to the documentary, viewed by The Hollywood Reporter, Chase felt ostracized by the tight-knit cast of Community.
Ken Jeong, Donald Glover, Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Gillian Jacobs, Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, Chevy Chase Mitchell Haaseth / NBC / Courtesy Everett Collection
As for what led to his firing, the documentary explored a scene where Chase’s character, Pierce Hawthorne, participated in a puppet show in which the hand puppet character performed in blackface.
An argument over the appropriateness of the scene between Chase and Brown allegedly included an utterance of the N-word by Chase, which led to Brown storming off the set.
Community director Jay Chandrasekhar participated in the doc and recalled his memories from the incident.
“I know that there was a history between [Chevy and Yvette] around race, and she got up and stormed out of there,” he said in the doc via THR. “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.’”
According to THR, Chase participates in the documentary, but does not comment on the alleged incident with Brown.
Chevy Chase was part of the inaugural season of Saturday Night Live, but the actor’s time on the sketch comedy program was rather short-lived. Chase left the show in the middle of SNL’s second season after originating the Weekend Update segment and the catchphrase “I’m Chevy Chase … and you’re not.” The cast member and […]
In her social media post, Brown did not name Chase or the documentary by name. At the same time, she asked people “to keep my name out your mouth.”
“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,” she said. “They actually don’t really know me — at all. They also have no knowledge of my relationship with anyone I’ve worked with & cannot credibly speak on any current or previous issues. I hate that all this had to be said.”
I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not premieres on CNN Thursday, January 1, at 8 p.m. ET.
