Chevy Chase has pushed back against allegations he is ‘racist’ after being fired from Community for using a racial slur.
In 2012, the SNL alumni left the TV show, which he starred in alongside Donald Glover, Joel McHale, Alison Brie, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Gillian Jacobs.
It was reported that he wasn’t pleased with his character arc and had an outburst that included using a racial slur.
Soon after this, he left the show, with his character, Pierce Hawthorne, being written out by dying off-screen before Season five.
This week a new debate over his exit has been reignited ahead of the release of I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, a new CNN documentary.
In an interview to promote the film, the comedian took aim at the show when attempting to tell his side of the story.
‘It wasn’t a bad experience. I just didn’t think it was that good, the show,’ he told The New York Times in a joint interview with the documentary’s director, Marina Zenovich.
But when told that he’d previously spoken positively about his time on the sitcom, he told the reporter: ‘Oh, shut up.’
He was then probed about his daughter, Caley Chase, saying in the documentary that he ‘loved’ the writing on Community, to which he replied: ‘My daughter can go to hell’.
Chase then said he thought his time on the show ‘ended great’.
However, he went on to speak more about his exit, explaining: ‘It was too great a misunderstanding of what I was saying and not saying. I thought that there was at least one person – and another who, for some ungodly reason, didn’t get me, didn’t know who I was, or didn’t realize for one second I’m not racist. They were too young to be aware of my work. Instead, there was some sort of visceral reaction from them.’
In a new, authorised documentary about Chevy’s life, Community director, Jay Chandrasekhar, 57, revealed he was there, directing, ‘the night that Chevy Chase got fired from Community.’
Jay said that the 82-year-old star ‘said something’ to Yvette Nicole Brown, 54, that led her to leave the set.
‘I know that there was a history between (the actors) around race, and she got up and stormed out of there,’ he said in the documentary, titled I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not.
‘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 apologises to her.”‘
It was said that Chase refused to apologise, claiming he called his Saturday Night Live co-star Richard Pryor ‘the N-word’ without a problem.
‘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,”‘ Jay said.
‘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?”‘
News of the fallout was leaked to the press, and after seeing the ‘racial incident’ in The Hollywood Reporter, Chase reportedly had a ‘full meltdown’.
The Hollywood Reporter stated at the time that he ‘apologised immediately’ to his Community colleagues for using the N-word on the set, and it took place while he was venting his ongoing frustration with his character.
The outlet also clarified that while co-stars Glover and Brown, who are both Black, were present for the scene and incident, ‘The slur was not directed at them.’
Jay said the star stormed onto the set, saying he had been ‘ruined’ by the leak, and left the show soon afterwards.
‘”Who f***ed me over?” … “My career is ruined! I’m ruined!” Like, it’s a full meltdown. “F**k all of you!” He never ended up coming back after that.’
Chase left the show after season four, which aired in 2013, though he did appear in one episode in 2014.
Chase and the show’s creator, Dan Harmon, also had a very public feud, which was mentioned by Chandrasekhar in the documentary.
‘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,’ Chandrasekhar said referring to when Harmon got party guests to say, ‘F**k you, Chevy!’
This resulted in the comedian allegedly leaving a profanity-laden voicemail for the show creator, which was infamously leaked and made major headlines in 2012.
Metro has reached out to representatives for Chevy Chase for comment.
A version of this article was originally published on December 29, 2025.
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