Chevy Chase reveals he left ‘Community’ because it wasn’t “funny enough”
American comedy actor Chevy Chase has revealed that he left Community because it wasn’t “funny enough” and cites a feud with the show’s creator, Dan Harmon.
“I honestly felt the show wasn’t funny enough for me, ultimately. I felt a little bit constrained,” Chase said during a recent appearance on Mark Maron’s WTF podcast. “Everybody had their bits, and I thought they were all good. It just wasn’t hard-hitting enough for me.”
Maron then asked the actor whether he had any issues with his character, Pierce Hawthorne. “I didn’t mind the character. I just felt that it was… I felt happier being alone,” he replied. “I just didn’t want to be surrounded by that table, every day, with those people. It was too much.”
Speaking to CBS Sunday Morning in 2022, Chase responded to accusations that he was difficult to work with on Saturday Night Live and Community.
“I guess you’d have to ask them. I don’t give a crap!” Chase laughed when asked how he felt when he heard his co-workers’ complaints.
“I am who I am. And I like where— who I am. I don’t care. And it’s part of me that I don’t care. And I’ve thought about that a lot. And I don’t know what to tell you, man. I just don’t care,” he added.
In perhaps the most controversial moment of the saga, Chase allegedly used the N-word while arguing with Harmon about his Community character in 2012. It was noted at the time that the actor didn’t use the word directly referring to his Black cast mates, Donald Glover or Yvette Nicole Brown, but the outburst upset cast and crew members all the same.
Speaking to Maron about his current relationship with Harmon, Chase revealed that he hasn’t “seen him since” he left the show in 2012. “I have no idea if we’re OK,” he continued. “I’ve never been not OK. He’s kind of a pisser.”
Listen to his full appearance on WTF below.
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