Chevy Chase breaks silence on painful SNL50 snub

by · Mail Online

Chevy Chase admitted he was 'hurt' over not being included in any of the sketches during NBC's SNL50: The Anniversary Special despite attending the live taping at 30 Rock on February 16.

The 82-year-old comedian - who was an original cast member from 1975-1976 - lamented his exclusion in CNN Films documentary I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not, which premieres January 1 at 8pm ET/PT.

'Well, it was kind of upsetting actually,' Chase confessed.

'This is probably the first time I'm saying it. But I expected that I would've been on the stage too with all the other actors. When Garrett [Morris] and Laraine [Newman] went on the stage there, I was curious as to why I didn't. No one asked me to. Why was I left aside?'

The three-time Emmy winner's doc is named after his catchphrase as the first Weekend Update anchor, so he was confused to see Bill Murray - whom he got into a backstage brawl with in 1978 - featured in the new SNL50 sketch.

'Why was Bill Murray there and why was I not?' Chase scoffed. 'I don't have an answer for that.'

Chevy Chase admitted he was 'hurt' over not being included in any of the sketches during NBC's SNL50: The Anniversary Special despite attending the live taping at 30 Rock on February 16
The 82-year-old comedian - who was an original cast member from 1975-1976 - lamented his exclusion in CNN Films documentary I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not, which premieres January 1 at 8pm ET/PT

The National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation alum - who also attended the SNL50: The Homecoming Concert on February 14 - texted SNL creator Lorne Michaels about his grievance, but then took it back.

'I said, "Okay, I take it back, silly." But it's not that silly,' Chase said.

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'Somebody's made a bad mistake there. I don't know who it was, but somebody made a mistake. They should've had me on that stage. It hurt.'

And while the New York native's third wife Jayni Chase claimed producers wanted him in two bits, Michaels recalled: 'We went back and forth on that. There was also a caution from somebody that I don't want to name that Chevy, you know, wasn't as focused.'

Director Marina Zenovich's deep dive into Chase's career also features interviews with Martin Short, Dan Aykroyd, Kevin Nealon, Goldie Hawn, Ryan Reynolds and Beverly D'Angelo.

The married couple of 43 years, who met on the set of Under The Rainbow in 1981, are proud parents of three daughters - Cydney, 42; Caley, 40; and Emily, 37 - the latter of whom called the doc 'beautifully done.'

'He's the a**hole that you love,' Emily described in the doc. 'Can I say a**hole?'

Zenovich replied: 'A lot of people will, unfortunately.'

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Chase confessed: 'Well, it was kind of upsetting actually. This is probably the first time I'm saying it. But I expected that I would've been on the stage too with all the other actors. When Garrett [Morris] and Laraine [Newman] went on the stage there, I was curious as to why I didn't. No one asked me to. Why was I left aside?'
The three-time Emmy winner's doc is named after his catchphrase as the first Weekend Update anchor, so he was confused to see Bill Murray (L) - whom he got into a backstage brawl with in 1978 - featured in the new SNL50 sketch
The National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation alum - who also attended the SNL50: The Homecoming Concert on February 14 (pictured) - texted SNL creator Lorne Michaels about his grievance, but then took it back
'Why was Bill Murray there and why was I not?' Chase scoffed. 'Somebody's made a bad mistake there. I don't know who it was, but somebody made a mistake. They should've had me on that stage. It hurt'
And while the New York native's third wife Jayni Chase claimed producers wanted him in two bits, Michaels recalled: 'We went back and forth on that. There was also a caution from somebody that I don't want to name that Chevy, you know, wasn't as focused'
Director Marina Zenovich's deep dive into Chase's career also features interviews with Martin Short (pictured), Dan Aykroyd, Kevin Nealon, Goldie Hawn, Ryan Reynolds and Beverly D'Angelo
The married couple of 43 years are proud parents of three daughters - Cydney (M, pictured December 4), 42; Caley (R), 40; and Emily (2-L), 37 - the latter of whom called the doc 'beautifully done'

Aside from his Murray fistfight, in 2012 the veteran actor also got into an outburst on the set of Community, one which reportedly saw him use the N-word, according to Deadline. 

He was reportedly getting increasingly frustrated about the way his character Pierce Hawthorne, an out of touch, bigot, was being portrayed and snapped suggesting that if the character was made any more racist, he might next be required to call the black characters on the show the N-word, Deadline reported.

Chase returned for the fourth season of the show but made his feelings about it abundantly clear, telling The Huffington Post UK that it was a 'big mistake' and that he'd only agreed to come back because he had a wife and three daughters and needed to make some money.

He dropped out later that season.

Chase will next portray Burt Leone in Nyle Cavazos Garcia's indie horror comedy CATnip alongside Bruce Dern, Joey Lauren Adams, Jake Busey and Geoffrey Arend.