Chevy Chase’s troubled exit from “Community” is getting a fresh retelling in a new CNN documentary, with director Jay Chandrasekhar describing a “full meltdown” after word of a racially charged on-set incident reached the press.
In the film, Chandrasekhar recounts a day in 2012 when production stalled during an episode built around a “blackface” hand puppet. He says co-star Yvette Nicole Brown left the set after Chase “said something,” and producers pressed him to apologize so filming could continue.
Chandrasekhar says Chase refused, insisting he had said nothing worth apologizing for, and he recalls Chase citing past comic banter, including trading insults with Richard Pryor. Once the story became public, Chandrasekhar says Chase returned to set shouting, “My career is ruined,” and refused to keep shooting. Chandrasekhar says Chase never came back after that day.
Reporting at the time said Chase used the N-word during a discussion about dialogue and the direction of his character, Pierce Hawthorne. Accounts from that period said the slur was not aimed at Brown or co-star Donald Glover, yet the moment still halted production briefly and prompted an apology from Chase. He later exited the series, with Pierce written out after Season 4 and killed off in Season 5.
The documentary’s account lands on top of long-running stories about friction behind the scenes. In 2012, series creator Dan Harmon publicly apologized after playing an angry voicemail from Chase at a live event, saying he regretted turning a private dispute into public entertainment. In a 2018 New Yorker profile, Glover described racist jokes and remarks he said Chase made between takes; the same story quoted Chase saying he was “saddened” that Glover perceived him that way.
“I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not,” directed by Marina Zenovich, premieres Jan. 1 at 8 p.m. ET on CNN and is set to stream the next day for subscribers.
