Recommendations of the Editorial team
Chevy Chase’s abrupt exit from the series “Community” in 2012 has come into focus again following the launch of the new CNN documentary “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not.” The comedian left the NBC series following allegations that he used a racial slur on set.
Misunderstandings and accusations on set
In a joint interview with The New York Times published on the occasion of the film’s release on January 1st, Chevy Chase and director Marina Zenovich spoke about his dismissal from the series by series creator Dan Harmon after 83 episodes.
When asked how he felt about the end of his role as the grumpy Pierce Hawthorne, Chevy Chase said: “It was way too big a misunderstanding of what I said. And what I didn’t say. I thought there was at least one person – and another, who for some inexplicable reason didn’t understand me, didn’t know who I was. Or didn’t realize for a second that I wasn’t racist.”
He added: “They were too young to know my work. Instead, there was a kind of instinctive reaction from them.”
According to the New York Times, the documentary addresses allegations that Chevy Chase, increasingly frustrated by his character’s growing bigotry and a scene involving a hand puppet in blackface, used a racial slur when he asked if his character had to say it too.
Reactions of those involved
In the CNN documentary, Community director Jay Chandrasekhar remembers the incident and mentions co-star Yvette Nicole Brown. She apparently reacted to the film in a recent Instagram post. “These are things I have never spoken about publicly. And may never speak about. Anyone who currently speaks FOR or ABOUT me with supposed authority does so without ever having spoken to me about the things they claim to know.”
She added: “In plain English from East Cleveland. Keep my name out of your mouth.” In the caption, Yvette Nicole Brown further wrote that one must take full responsibility for one’s own actions without shifting blame. Or looking for scapegoats.
The “New Yorker” had already portrayed Donald Glover, also a co-star of “Community”, in 2018. It reported that Chevy Chase tried to sabotage Glover’s scenes and made racist jokes on set. Donald Glover said at the time: “I just saw Chevy as someone fighting against time. A true artist must be able to accept that his reign is over.”