Chevy Chase<\/strong><\/a> is breaking his silence over being excluded from Saturday Night Live\u2019s<\/em><\/a> SNL50<\/em> special earlier this year.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it was kind of upsetting actually,\u201d Chase, 82, says in CNN Films\u2019 upcoming documentary, I\u2019m Chevy Chase and You\u2019re Not<\/em>, which is set to air Thursday, January 1, per People<\/em><\/a>. \u201cThis is probably the first time I\u2019m saying it. But I expected that I would\u2019ve been on the stage too with all the other actors. When Garrett [Morris]<\/strong> and Laraine [Newman]<\/strong> went on the stage there, I was curious as to why I didn\u2019t. No one asked me to. Why was I left aside?\u201d<\/p>\n Chase was noticeably absent from stage during the event, which celebrated 50 years of the NBC late-night series by revisiting old sketches and honoring past and present cast members. Chase, who was an inaugural member of the show and creator and co-anchor of long-running bit \u201cWeekend Update,\u201d instead spent the special<\/a> in the audience.<\/p>\n In his upcoming documentary, Chase wonders why \u201cBill Murray<\/strong> was there\u201d for the special but he wasn\u2019t \u2014 a question he says he doesn\u2019t \u201chave an answer\u201d for. He also recalls bringing the situation up to SNL<\/em> creator Lorne Michaels<\/strong> via text, but notes that he failed to express how it truly made him feel. (Murray, 75, replaced Chase after his season 2 exit and later took over as co-anchor for \u201cWeekend Update\u201d on seasons 4 and 5.)<\/p>\n \u201cI did bring it up once in a text to Lorne and then took it back,\u201d Chase explains in the doc. \u201cI said, \u2018OK, I take it back, silly.\u2019 But it\u2019s not that silly. Somebody\u2019s made a bad mistake there. I don\u2019t know who it was, but somebody made a mistake. They should\u2019ve had me on that stage. It hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Chase\u2019s wife, Jayni<\/strong>, the comedian was initially supposed to be featured in the SNL50<\/em> special<\/a> more heavily. She claims that he was told \u201cup until that day that there were two bits, they were going back and forth.\u201d However, the plans were changed last minute, with Jayni telling the cameras, \u201cAll of the sudden, \u2018No, there\u2019s no bit.\u201d<\/p>\n Michaels, for his part, addresses the situation directly in the doc, admitting that there were \u201ca couple versions of \u2018Weekend Update’\u201d that he went \u201cback and forth\u201d on. Michaels adds that \u201cthere was also a caution from somebody that I don\u2019t want to name that Chevy, you know, wasn\u2019t as focused.\u201d<\/p>\n Chase starred on SNL<\/em> from 1975 through the second season. He exited mid-season that same year in 1976, making him the second original cast member to leave after George Coe\u2019s<\/strong> season 1 exit. In the doc, Chase admits it was a \u201cmistake\u201d to exit the show so early.<\/p>\n \n Earlier this year, the actor revealed during a February episode that his personal life is what propelled him to walk away. \u201cI left because I was stricken with a girl from L.A. that I met, and in fact married, but for only a couple of years,\u201d he told host Willie Geist, referring to his second wife, Jacqueline Carlin<\/strong>. (Chase and Carlin, who died at age 78 in 2021, were engaged during his time on SNL<\/em>. They tied the knot in 1976 and divorced in 1980. Chevy was married to his first wife, Suzanne Chase<\/strong>, from 1973 to 1976. He wed Jayni, 68, in 1982.)<\/p>\n \u201cIt was strange because I missed it right away. And I still miss it,\u201d he continued. \u201cI loved that show, I loved being with Lorne and the cast \u2014 quite a funny cast: Dan Aykroyd<\/strong>, John Belushi<\/strong>, Garrett Morris<\/strong>, Gilda [Radner]<\/strong>, Laraine [Newman]<\/strong> and Jane [Curtain]<\/strong>. You know that was a great group of people. So I missed them too.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite being nostalgic for his time on SNL<\/em>, Chevy faced his fair share of controversies with the long-running series. He made headlines in 1978 for infamously fighting with Murray<\/a> in Belushi\u2019s dressing room when the Ghostbusters<\/em> star allegedly made a comment about Chevy\u2019s marital problems. The remark led Chevy to criticize Murray\u2019s appearance, and the two came to blows. (The pair later made amends and even starred in 1980\u2019s Caddyshack<\/em> together.)<\/p>\n In 2018, Chevy slammed the then-current cast members when sharing his opinion that the show\u2019s comedy had gone downhill.<\/p>\n You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n \u201cI had to watch a little of it, and I just couldn\u2019t f***ing believe it,\u201d he told The Washington Post<\/em>\u00a0at the time. \u201cThat means a whole generation of s***heads laughs at the worst f***ing humor in the world. You know what I mean? How could you dare give that generation worse s*** than they already have in their lives? It just drives me nuts.\u201d<\/p>\nThank You!<\/h3>\n
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