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There was a commotion on the set of NBC comedy Community yesterday. I hear hot-tempered co-star Chevy Chase had another outburst, this time featuring the N-word. It appears that the tirade was not addressed at black cast members Donald Glover or Yvette Nicole Brown. People close to the situation say that Chase had been increasingly frustrated and uncomfortable with the direction of his character, Pierce, who is a bigot. After getting fed more lines he found offensive during a scene yesterday, I hear he snapped and launched the tirade, airing his frustration and suggesting that the way things with Pierce are going, he may next be asked to call Troy (Glover) or Shirley (Brown) the N-word. I hear the outburst upset the cast. Chase later apologized. The racial content of his tirade does appear out of character for Chase, who once marched in the civil rights movement, but the blowup itself is not. Chase is known for having a short fuse and storming off the set of Community in the middle of a scene if he is not happy with the script. His feud with show’s creator/former showrunner Dan Harmon last year escalated into a profanity-laced message Chase left on Harmon’s voice mail.
Never one to mince words, Chase has been vocal about his displeasure with his gig on Community and hinted multiple times last spring that he may leave, which didn’t happen. In a recent interview with The Huffington Post UK, he said of signing to do the show: “It was a big mistake! I just sort of hung around because I have three daughters and a wife, and I figured out I might as well make some bread, every week, so I can take care of them in the way they want.” There is more. “The hours are hideous, and it’s still a sitcom on television, which is probably the lowest form of television.” The only nice thing Chase said about Community was regarding the cast, which supports the idea that his racial tirade was likely not directed at them. “I think the reason I have stuck around is because I love these kids, the cast — they are very good.”
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If you don’t like it, leave the show. He’s always had a huge ego and a bad temper, and I guess age hasn’t mellowed him.
Jeremy, you have to read the whole post…He wants/needs the “bread”.
Do you think job offers for guys like him grow on trees?
Then he basically admits that the only place he can work is in “probably the lowest form of television.”
Sucks to be him…and he’ll let you know it.
N-word? Netflix!
Didn’t know you knew him personally.
Well, I have to admit that I think they have taken Peirce’s character in not the best direction. The whole “excluding him from the group” thing was pretty harsh.
I really hope he doesn’t leave though. If the future of Community was on thin ice before, his leaving will upset the entire ecosystem of the show.
In the 1st season much of his bigotry was Pierce being a product of his time. I was hoping they’d soften the character up after Digital Estate Planning but it looks like they are amping it up.
Not the biggest fan of Chevy, but I’m willing to give a pass on this one.
So he marches for Civil Rights, and gets upset when he’s asked to do something bigoted? And he uses a racially charged word as an example of the lengths he won’t go to? Sounds like he’s standing up for something, and you guys write this story like he’s the old racist he plays on Community.
Agreed, it is completely unfair to say this is “of of character” bc he once marched for civil rights. He was clearly making a point, as you say in the article that he is upset at the escalating bigotry he’s being asked to act out.
But look: I read the article and I’m commenting on it. Bravo at the cost of a man making an exclaimed anti-bigotry statement. Hope everyone else takes the time to read through the entire article.
Exactly. This is the tired old industry trick of trying to make someone you don’t like for whatever reason look like a loose cannon on the set.
Whoever it is on the set spewing out this non-event should be ashamed of themselves, even though rest assured they are not.
This is why, in case anyone ever wondered, why a lot of creatives in this industry check out of the business early.
The finally just get sick of dealing with sociopaths as an unheralded part of their job description.
Using the N-word is never appropriate.
It is when making a point about how racist his character was becoming, ya dope.
Plenty of people use the N-Word in songs and movies to prove a point. There is even a book with the N-Word as it’s name. Under this logic, “To Kill a Mocking Bird” shouldn’t be read anymore. Don’t give the word power. It’s the context that’s important. Obviously Chase was standing up and saying he was unhappy with the bigotry of his character. He didn’t call anyone the N-Word, which would have been inappropriate.
Agreed.
I have always thought there is a big difference between mocking a stereotype and enforcing a stereotype.
It sounds like he was laying down the law by stating that his character was doing more to enforce the stereotype, demonstrated by the fact that it would not be out of character for his character to use the N-word.
I completely agree with you here, and surprise, I’M A BLACK GIRL!! People need to consider context before letting a single word deem an entire speech racist. The tirade wasn’t racially charged, it was Chevy expressing discomfort about how racially charged his character was becoming. Come on people. Chevy can be a jerk, but give him credit where credit is due, he clearly wasn’t being racist here.
Gotta say, as a black man, dead on.
I really can’t stand whiny actors. If you need the gig to pay your bills, respect the creatives and do your job. Or take the highway. But don’t whine. Either put up or shut up. And in this day and age, using the N-word is completely unacceptable under any circumstances. He should be docked a weeks wages and forced to make a public apology. Some actors don’t know how lucky they are.
So actors should just kiss the ass of the “creatives” and not have any input in the creative decisions that determine the nature of their work? Sounds like you are more of a dictator than a director.
The director is the boss and the actor is the employee…I don’t think McDonalds allows their employees any input on the menu…
the director is the boss? Clearly you have not been on a television set. The director is even less empowered than the actors. The executive producer is the ‘boss’ and even he/she/they have to answer to network and studio ‘bosses’ above them. The ‘whiny’ actor is the last line of defense on set to protect the character and material that they are given
What a dumb analogy. Actors have the same skill set as a McDonald’s employee? Anyone who thinks actors don’t have weight on a set knows nothing about making movies or television shows. Next time there’s an actors’ strike let’s watch all those show starring directors, executive producers and all the other “creatives” you people think are pulling these puppets’ strings. Actors get projects made. Very few directors and NO producers can get a project off the ground on their participation alone.
Except for Joss Whedon. Anything that guy touches is gold.
In television the director has a nickname…”next”.
Maybe in features what you’re saying would make sense, but in TV the writers and the actors own the characters. The directors are there to serve the show-runner’s vision.
Director=boss. Actor=employee. I work for the dept of justice and input is minimally acceptable…chase has a character whom from the start they wanted to be an old bigot…if they take away the bigot he is just an old man.. Not very creative or humorous…this is comedy and racism, sexism, ageism, is all done in parody for the purpose of humor…the sensitive need not apply nor watch……
Working for the Department of Justice doesn’t make you a filmmaker. You don’t know what you are talking about.
If he thinks sitcoms are the lowest form of television, he hasn’t watched enough television (only his own participation). How can he say something like that when he did his own travesty of a talk show for Fox? He’s clearly out of touch.
Yeah, nobody in America ever complains about their job.
He should be forced to make a public apology because he hates that Pierce is racist, expressed his pleasure rhetorically to a group of people and then one of them went off to Deadline.com and blabbed about it? How would you write that? And why, other than the fact that it’s Chevy Chase and people (as clearly evidenced in a couple of these comments) assume he’s an ass at all times, would anyone think that what he said in the context that he allegedly said it is something that he should apologize for?
You are an idiot. A writer shouldn’t write stuff that isn’t appropriate in every day language. If it isn’t appropriate in society then the writer shouldn’t have tried to have Chevy say it. The writer is wrong and I am glad Chevy said no. It is what it is.
Considering at the end of season 3 his character was starting to change into a nicer person..I find this a little alarming
I think that’s because at the end of last season they were wrapping up for a potential series finale. I expect everyone to de-evolve a little bit asd they need to reassemble the show’s chemistry for the new season. It’s a double-edged sword for the new showrunners because you’ll either be accused of pissing on Harmon’s legacy if you undo that finale, or accused of taking the show in a radically new direction if you pick up from where he left off.
not true. taken out of context. i was there.
Can I get what the controversy is about? It’s all about context. He said that word exactly complaining of the prejudicial lines he has to say as Pierce, complaining that soon he’ll turn so bigot he’ll have to call someone a n. He didn’t call anyone that name, and was in fact complaining about it. This is a non-story.
Hear, hear. Utter non-story.
100% agreed. It actually says positive things about Chase, not negative ones. Don’t understand.
WOAH him complaining about his character being so bigoted that next the writers may as well have him say the n-word is not what you are trying to make this out to be.
“Is Chevy Chase the Last Bad Boy in Comedy?” – the headline for Chase’s 2013 Rolling Stone cover.
From episode 1, Chevy Chase has been the weak link on an otherwise very good TV show. It just never clicked with Chase, never felt right. It’s always been the one think I did not like about the show.
I completely disagree. He’s been hilarious as Pierce. And, with the exception of Christmas Vacation and Caddyshack, I’ve never thought Chevy was hilarious.
Don’t forget Fletch – “He’s 6’5″, 6’9 with the afro. You know this gritty kid from the streets of Harlem really creates excitement. $4 million dollars a year, that’s true, but he earns every nickel of it. Look at how he shakes off 4 or 5 defenders…WITH EASE!” – Classic!
Clearly you don’ have a pocket full of Hawthornes.
Chase’s character has provided salt to a show that might otherwise veer to sweet, and creates some nice group tension.
Wait… the guy who did National Lampoon vacation movies is complaining about the quality of humor in a well-written TV comedy show?
What?
National Lampoon’s Vacation is a comedy classic. And Christmas Vacation has some great moments. The other two not so much.
All of which had to do with the writing. Anyone of Chevy’s generation could have played his non-descript part.
He was complaining about the direction his character is heading not about the overall writing of the show, which is excellent.
Actually, Chase infamously hates the overall writing of the show, too.
Chevy, you sound like you’re suffering from early onset Dementia.You haven’t been remotely funny since the Vacation movies.No one twisted your arm to sign up for another season, and if you’re doing it only for the money, stop being a drama queen and quit piss bagging and quit, before you bring the rest of the cast down. The character Pierce sucks major nads anyway and should be done away with.He’s a major pain in the ass, just like you Chevy, and won’t be missed.
If this is true, he used the word contextually, not racially.
This show is entertaining and creative, but the vibe around it is so goddamned negative, even with Harmon gone. Chase is just a negative presence, too.
I feel sorry for the fans of the show, because it isn’t going to last much longer with the way NBC is treating it, and now “controversies” like this don’t help much.
(shrug) The show is almost over, so we don’t have to suffer this buffoon much longer. The show’s quality will speak for itself long after Chevy is mercifully gone.
Community is all he has for a career. His recent film choices have to be upsetting. He can’t be getting any good offers.
Pierce has gotten worse instead of better. I kinda understand where Chevy is coming from. Let Pierce be more likable!
The rift between he and Dan Harmon last spring was triggered when Chevy refused to do a tag scene that would have been incredibly likable: Pierce hugging Abed after Abed reprograms the Hawkthrone game to have his dad say he is proud of him.
That’s not likeable. That’s incredibly corny, sappy, and I would even say cynically manipulative, if I didn’t know Harmon has the emotional life of a 13 year old drunk.
Chevy’s character was the only one of the bunch that was an embarrassment of poor writing. He was right to get fed up with the lazy showrunner and writers responsible for it. After all, it’s Chevy who has to say Harmon and company’s crappy lines.
Whomever doesn’t like the Chevy character in the show can’t blame Chevy. The writing for that character was atrocious from the get-go, and got WORSE!
Chevy’s an old pro. He knows when he’s given utter crap to work with. Harmon and his lame posse have NO excuse besides immaturity and alcohol.
The lowest form of television has always been anything Chevy has done (OTHER than Community, which I begrudgingly admit he has beeen terrific on).
what’s the controversy?
he was against the racial slur and the continuing negative language being written for his character towards the african american characters
that he used the racial slur to speak out against it, is an issue that many public figures have come under
he is the weak link in the show,I don’t know why they don’t just let him out of his $$$$contract. Give an actor who wants to work and needs the money the job.
I agree with what others have said – this is a non-story. It sounds like someone at Community is leaking information in an attempt to get Chase out of there.
When the antics of an actor on a show generates more buzz than the show itself, then that show is on its way to being canceled.
For a comedy that produces so few laughs and viewers they sure do create a lot of drama. NBC would cancel this headache except they have nothing to replace it with. Sadness abounds.
“For a comedy that produces so few laughs and viewers they sure do create a lot of drama. ”
Welcome to HARMONTOWN!!
I just copied and pasted Caio’s well written response
Can I get what the controversy is about? It’s all about context. He said that word exactly complaining of the prejudicial lines he has to say as Pierce, complaining that soon he’ll turn so bigot he’ll have to call someone a n. He didn’t call anyone that name, and was in fact complaining about it. This is a non-story.
This Chevy Chase N-word “fiasco” sounds like Much Ado About Nada, and people either need to 1) get thicker skin, or 2) stop being such nervous nellies anytime race comes up, to the point that logic/clear-mindedness leaves the building, or 3) all of the above.
I once came across the case of a white Microsoft exec who left the company to teach in a technologically-deprived inner city school in Seattle. One day in class a black student griped on and on about something being “so gay” . The teacher took the kid outside of the class, so as not to embarass him in front of his peers, and told the kid that using “gay” so cavalierly was wrong and could upset a fellow student in class that might be gay or lesbian. The teacher asked the student how would he feel if another student kept complaining about stuff in class by using the “n-word.”
Before you knew it, the NAACP was protesting. Parents were foaming at the mouth. The teacher who left cushy corporate america to give something back got canned. All because the story got spun and the public did not take the teacher’s attempted lesson for what it was — a teaching moment. He was not calling the student the “n-word” but rather offering a hypothetical parallel situation to help the student consider his actions.
It’s always about context, folks. And the context of Chevy Chase’s words seem on point and well intentioned (unlike, say, comedian Michael Richard’s racial rant a few years back!) Chevy should be applauded for taking a clear and bold stand such as this. Not enough well compensated Hollywood actors in Hollywood would.
This said, sure sounds like the Harmon-less “Community” is just circling the drain!
Oh sure, lets beat up the NAACP for no reason at all. Thanks rush jumbaugh. Reality check, all players involved in this non story and who are trying to smear Chevy chase over this are White, White, and again White. The only thing more frustrating for blacks, is when whites use our brutal history in this country for their trite and silly pr games to smear one another. They cynically think they’re egging us on and causing a controversy that will screw chase over (again, blacks have no problem with what Chevy said) when in reality they’re just showing us how little they respect blacks and society in general, that they think, we’d think, this warrants some kind of knee jerk outraged response, that would enable them to ditch Chevy. Stop playing games white business people in power, if you want to screw each other over, you don’t need to use our history to do it…and leave Chevy chase alone.
Thanks, Smear Job, for your comment. Nail squarely hit with that one.
What exactly did he do wrong here? I mean seriously? It sounds like he was protesting the racist undertones (or overtones for that matter) of the character by using the n word contextually. When John Lennon used the word contextually he was lauded, this is hardly any different.
Sounds like Chase used the “N word” as a way of expressing his disgust regarding the racist nature of his character – in other words – suggest the script was just as bad as using that language. In my opinion, however, the backwards, racist dialogue Chase’s character spews is funny because everyone knows such ideas are antiquated and wrong. I was worried that Chase’s character would become too tame after he was “let back in the group.” I guess the new showrunners are trying to keep Pierce where he was before.
Exactly! I’m reading comments about “giving him a pass”….did these people not read the article? There’s no pass to be given, he didn’t do anything wrong. He doesn’t like playing the role of a bigot (though he probably should have blown up at the writers and not on set).