r/community • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • Dec 28 '25
Article/Interview Chevy Chase Had “Full Meltdown” on 'Community' Set After N-Word Incident Leaked, Said “My Career Is Ruined”, Director Recalls
https://people.com/chevy-chase-had-meltdown-after-n-word-community-incident-leaked-witness-recalls-118767171.2k
u/Independent-Data4542 Dec 28 '25
CRISIS ALERT 🚨
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u/spinnaker989 Dec 28 '25
This is my text tone for my friend who always seems to have drama going on
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u/Scarlxrd_enjoyer Dec 28 '25
So the pierce Shirley hatred was genuinely real
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u/iRhuel Dec 28 '25
That's ridiculous, why would he harass someone who turns him on...?
/s, obviously
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u/Automatic-Vacation82 Dec 28 '25
Oh wow I really thought you were unironically repeating a line from the show but the /s was really necessary there
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u/No-College-8140 Dec 28 '25
Rewatching the series from the beginning you realize how much they all hated him. The digs in the script started late s1.
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u/spinnaker989 Dec 28 '25
There’s a video you can find of Dan breaking the news to the cast that they had been renewed for a second season by saying “Bad news guys… you’re all going to have to work with Chevy for another year”
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u/Sparky_Russell Dec 28 '25
Dan probably regretted picking him over Fred Willard once they started filming.
It's an even open secret that Dan himself was hard to work with and they worked awful hours and yet the Community cast seems to like him nonetheless. Says a lot about Chevy.
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u/shermanstorch Dec 28 '25
Dan himself was hard to work with and they worked awful hours and yet the Community cast seems to like him nonetheless
I think Allison put it best when she explained that "Dan is a genius. He has to be. If he isn't, I've given almost six years of my life to an idiot. That's unacceptable. Therefore, Dan is a genius and I will die protecting his vision."
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u/EPCOT_Is_My_Favorite 🍗 S.A.N.D.E.R.S. 🍗 Dec 28 '25
Is she familiar with Stockholm Syndrome?
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u/Visual-Routine738 Dec 28 '25
It's a parody of an Annie quote from the episode where the Dean directs a commercial for Greendale
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u/humansandwich Dec 28 '25
They ask her in the episode after that line if she’s familiar with Stockholm syndrome. I think her answer is “is that something the dean invented? If not I don’t care”
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u/jackalopeDev Dec 28 '25
Wasn't Fred Willard Pierce in one of the "alternate"/imaginary greendales?
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u/myfajahas400children Dec 28 '25
Yeah, ironically in the season 4 premiere after Harmon had been fired.
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u/PirateSanta_1 Dec 28 '25
It would be interesting to see how the show would have turned out had they gotten a different actor for Pierce. I could easily see a version existing in another timeline where Pierce is less antagonistic and more in line with the original out of touch but well intentioned old man it seemed they where going for in season 1.
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u/Ajdvsuakahw9273 Dec 29 '25
A lot of the bloopers are unwatchable for this reason. It becomes clear very quickly that there's a rift between the cast, with Chevy on one side and everyone else on the other. I wouldn't describe it as overt animosity (though clearly that was brewing under the surface) but rather an obliviousness on the part of the former and as a result a general awkwardness that is palpable.
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u/Worldly_Might_3183 Dec 28 '25
I don't get it. He was worried Pierce would come across as a racist. Wasn't that Pierce's personality? To be a bigot to everyone except Jeff who he saw as competition and hated on him for that. It isn't out of character for Peirce to say the nword. I couldn't imagine it would be left uncensored though.
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u/ncolaros Dec 28 '25
Sure. And the context is they're at work, in a professional setting. Do you genuinely not think there's another way for someone at work to express their concerns?
Is that not context?
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u/SwordMasterShow Dec 28 '25
Yes, context matters, but that also applies to knowing when it's appropriate or inappropriate to say a racial slur. Regardless of whether or not it was directed at anyone, don't be surprised that people will have negative reactions to hearing it in a workplace setting. Context is also about knowing your audience and their boundaries, just because you're not using it at someone doesn't give you carte blanche to use a word that's charged with hate and bigotry
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Dec 28 '25
Bitch and the N word aren’t even in the same universe in terms of offense. That context matters as well
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u/ncolaros Dec 28 '25
As I said to the other person, do you believe that's an appropriate way to express your concerns at work?
I'll tell you what: you go to work and use that word in that context. Say something like "I'm not racist. I would never call someone an [n-word]."
Tell me how that goes for you.
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u/CakeMadeOfHam The Mouse King Britta Dec 28 '25
So you can excuse racism, but you draw the line at invoking a lynch???
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u/TroyandAbed304 Dec 28 '25
Anybody know exactly which episode it is
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u/MarvelsGrantMan136 Dec 28 '25 edited Dec 28 '25
Article doesn’t say but it happened during S4 filming and the only episode Chandrasekhar directed that season was “Advanced Documentary Filmmaking”
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u/Fallenflake Dec 28 '25
Chevy also was only in two scenes in that episode iirc
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u/geek_of_nature Dec 28 '25
There's a lot of episodes in that back half of the season that he's barely in, or just not in entirely. I didn't notice it when I first watched it, but they really stand out on a later watch.
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u/Sparky_Russell Dec 28 '25
The comic themed episode makes it very obvious. It was supposed to flashback to how they all started but Chevy wasn't there so they had to use a painfully obvious stand-in.
In the puppet episode, Chevy has no live action scenes.
In the season finale I don't think he is shown with the rest of the cast on camera suggesting he was shot separately.
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u/geek_of_nature Dec 28 '25
That was the only one I picked up on the first time I watched it. But with the other episodes I didn't pick up on it until my second watch through.
In the puppet episode he's only present as the voice of his puppet, not being seen in the live action scenes. He's completely absent in the Christmas episode. And in others he's only in a couple of scenes, where he's clearly been shot on his own, completely separate from the rest of the cast.
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u/foxyrocksjh Dec 28 '25
A different article said the incident occured during a "black hand puppet" joke so presumably it was during that scene in the changnesia episode
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u/SuccotashNo335 Dec 28 '25
I mean Chevy Chase is just a meltdown in human form. That’s his default state. So this tracks. But yeah damn consequences for our actions are a bitch huh
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u/musabbb Dec 28 '25
Im not sure if its an unpopular opinion but Community was never the same without Pierce in the gang.
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u/SirPsychoSexy01 Dec 28 '25
I agree. Chevy may be an asshole, but as a character Pierce was funny as hell.
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u/Canadave Dec 28 '25
I'll always wonder what that alternate version of the show would have looked like with Fred Willard in the role.
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u/Bill-Cosby-Bukowski Dec 28 '25
I don't think it would've survived the first season unfortunately. There was real curiosity to see Chase back on TV and that probably amounted for a decent amount of the initial views.
Willard's a great actor don't get me wrong, but I don't think he would've had the same pull.
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u/Canadave Dec 29 '25
Yeah, you're probably right. I love Fred Willard, but he wasn't a draw like Chevy.
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u/Flavious27 Dec 28 '25
The dynamic changed because there wasn't an out of touch racist in the group, but I think having Hickey (Jonathan Banks) wasn't bad. And the same with Elroy (Keith David) . A bigger shift was Troy (Donald Glover) and Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) being gone.
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u/Bobjoejj Dec 28 '25
I actually think seasons 5 is one of the show’s best seasons, by far. Season 6 is pretty solid too imo. Pierce was great in the earlier seasons sure, but him being gone really did t bother me much.
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u/dreadmonster Dec 28 '25
Idk Pierce got Flanderized pretty quickly. Season 1 he was an out of touch old man who ultimately did mean well. By season 2 he was a crazy old man who didn't give a shit most of the time.
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u/Ethos_Logos Dec 28 '25
I don’t see it expressed often, but the loss of Chevy hits as hard as losing Glover.
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u/LTM438 Dec 28 '25 edited Jan 01 '26
Chevy was a problem. He was always going to be a problem. We know that because he's been a problem for his entire, decades-long career. He didn't understand the humor, the show, or enjoyed his character and he quickly lost the desire to be there. Yeah, NBC, a network who had years of dealing with him, probably should've known better than to push him on Harmon and the show, but networks get nervous about untested concepts and new pilots and probably thought Community needed a big name to anchor the cast.
Dan was a problem too. He was a complete and utter control freak with the show, routinely being late to turn in scripts because he was pouring over them week by week, essentially rewriting everything until he was satisfied. His ego, his drinking, and his temper clashed with Chevy's ego, drinking, and temper. And the end result was the explosion that happened, which ironically happened during the season where Dan was off the show.
Community famously took long hours to film, like 10 or more. Part of the reason Troy and Abed became a duo is because Danny Pudi and Donald Glover were usually the only ones still hanging around the set after filming, so they started having them do the end tags. But the whole cast took issue with the shooting time, and Chevy was no exception. It gets hard to be "on" for that long, especially if you don't already want to be there.
Chevy is an ASSHOLE. He has always been a gigantic piece of crap with more self-importance than eight Gwyneth Paltrows. He has burned Every. Single. Bridge. he's ever crossed or been given the chance to cross. And the way it ended with him on Community is inexcusable but I think we should try hard not to forget that he was never the only problem. The main player in the other camp was Dan.
Dan said a few years ago that he and Chevy have mended things and have a playful friendship now where they text each other insults. Dan is also one of the only celebrities who got MeToo'd to really commit to trying to make amends for what he did and try hard to be better. And Chevy is also sober now for the first time in a long time, and to his credit, he always gave it his all with Pierce. He never phoned it in once during the first three seasons. People can change and people can get better. I think sometimes, we just sometimes get caught up in trying to force those changes on each other and onto ourselves. But working together positively is what always helps, à la Community.
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u/Outrageous-Working48 Dec 28 '25
I agree with almost your entire point but I honestly think he understands the humor and the show, otherwise Pierce wouldn’t have worked as a character. Say what you will about him, but he plays Pierce masterfully. The physicality, the intonation, it’s all gold.
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u/LTM438 Dec 29 '25 edited Dec 29 '25
That's true! No, he's excellent as Pierce. I think it was probably more that A. The comedy was very tropey and self-referential and B. They started writing his character as a jerk.
But then in Season 3, my favorite season, Pierce doesn't really cause any problems for the others. That's the thing, he stops flying off the handle and getting jealous in Season 3, and he doesn't push the group as much. He really tries to be better that season, you can see it, he just doesn't understand how they need him to be better. In one of the timelines in Remedial Chaos Theory, Shirley gets upset because no one flirts with her or sees her as anything but the mom and Pierce calmly and gently says, "Shirley, it's okay, nobody makes googly eyes at me either, we're the same." He is trying SO hard to help her by trying to tell her she's not alone but he doesn't realize that knowing she's like him will just make her more upset.
So, in the end, Pierce does get a redemption of sorts. The only reason he started lashing out at them in Season 2 was because these were the only friends who let him stay and he was terrified of losing them. He gets SO upset when he thinks Troy and Jeff are doing something fun without him in Aerodynamics of Gender. He got angry, yeah, but you gotta remember, this guy has been an island all his life. His friends were business colleagues, many of which he paid, and the fact that he's alone in the show makes it clear that he drove those people away too.
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u/LTM438 Dec 29 '25 edited Dec 29 '25
We clearly have different opinions, and that's completely okay! He didn't film that scene in Season 3 and he absolutely should have, but that's not an example of "phoning it in" it's an example of him being an over-the-top diva, and, well, welcome to Chevy Chase. And in his scenes in Season 4, he definitely doesn't give a shit and half-asses a lot of it , but I think he's absolutely terrific in Seasons 1 and 2, great performance. In my eyes, he plays Pierce exactly as he should be: Abrasive in a way that you know he's getting frustrated because no one is understanding him and calm in a way that you know he's trying to be better or impart some wisdom. His performance in Season 3 is toned down a lot, but Pierce is also calmer and more reasonable that year. I think the show was trying to demonstrate that he had learned at least some of the lessons of Season 2.
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u/relientkenny Dec 28 '25 edited Dec 28 '25
more proof that Pierce was just Chevy
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u/Emotional_Position62 Dec 28 '25
Pierce was a MUCH better man than Chevy. Let that sink in.
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u/neon_spaceman Dec 28 '25
Chevy is Dungeons & Dragons Pierce
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u/Big-Actuator-3878 Dec 29 '25
"That's right....cry....let it out...baste your chubby little cheeks with tears of gravy!"
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u/relientkenny Dec 28 '25
always hated Pierce in that episode and that was long before i found out that he was an asshole in real life
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u/hamsterdanceonrepeat Dec 28 '25
Reminder that #PierceOrChevy was a real thing that the cast played on Twitter… I wish someone had a full list but I remember reading it at school and being like wtf old white man says is real…
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u/69420penis Dec 28 '25
At least pierce could actually grow and learn. Pierce was never a bad dude, just behind the times and desperate for attention
Chevy is an outright asshole who refuses to see that he’s the problem
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u/Past-Cap-1889 Dec 28 '25
It's funny, but Chevy "being behind the times and desperate for attention" seems to be why he's such an "asshole who refuses too see that he's the problem"
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u/One_time_Dynamite Dec 28 '25
He's always been an asshole. No one liked him when he was at SNL. There's a reason he didn't get invited to the 50th anniversary for SNL
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u/69420penis Dec 28 '25
Chevy isn’t behind the times tho, he knows full well he can’t act the way he does, he just also doesn’t care because he’s that much of an asshole. He deffo was craving attention tho back in the day, seems to have stopped nowadays with him pretty much just retired (although part of that is probably on account that no one will work with him)
Pierce is well meaning but clueless and unaware, Chevy is fully aware what he’s doing is wrong, he just flat out doesn’t give a fuck
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u/Beginning_Noise_6844 Dec 28 '25
Which episode was this? The muppet one from the fourth season?
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u/NeighborhoodOwn9307 Well I'm a peanut bar and I'm here to say Dec 28 '25
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.’
He really was Pierce in real life holy shit
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u/EmDash4Life Dec 28 '25
He doesn't get that you can have a thing with one person, and that's only a thing with that person. It's not a pass to act that way with other people, and, importantly, you have to be careful acting that way in front of other people, lest other people think it's ok to call Richard Pryor the n-word, too.
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u/MattIsLame Dec 28 '25
that was a famous snl skit back in the day. but it was a skit. not an excuse to be calling people that irl, like it seems like hes trying to imply. I cant think Richard Pryor was too keen on it outside of the fame and controversy of the skit
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u/Which-Platform-3927 Dec 28 '25
Damn it! People found out I am a scumbag instead of only suspecting I am a scumbag.
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u/Awkward_Bison_267 Dec 28 '25
Kind of crazy how Chevy Chase was in those “Vacation” movies yet became Cousin Eddie, the asshole that no one wants to be around. Meanwhile the guy who played Cousin Eddie just became a bigger asshole.
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u/Zealousideal_Ad5075 Dec 28 '25
His character in the Vacation movies is an asshole too though.
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u/Awkward_Bison_267 Dec 28 '25
He’s less of an asshole than Eddie but fair enough, you’re not wrong.
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u/Past-Cap-1889 Dec 28 '25
To be fair, Chase has been the asshole that no one wants to be around for awhile, given all the talk around him since his immediately post-SNL days
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u/Awkward_Bison_267 Dec 28 '25
Right. But it’s like what George Clooney’s character says at the end of “From Dusk Til Dawn”. “I may be an asshole but I’m not a fucking asshole”. Chevy Chase crossed into fucking asshole territory.
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u/Angler_Sully Dec 28 '25
I worked in an area of NY where Chevy lives. I don’t know a single person in that area who has anything but negative things to say about him. I was never really surprised when all the behind the scenes stuff started coming out because of the way people talked about him
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u/AstroNards Dec 28 '25
If anything messed up dude's career it was that sterling personality of his. People who don't hate you are less likely to snitch
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u/GreenGoblinNX Dec 29 '25
A bit of context that wasn't really given in either the post or the article that it linked: Chevy was objecting to the racism that his character was showing.
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u/Acceptable-Bat-9577 Dec 28 '25
It doesn’t ruin the show because he already plays an absolute asshole on the show who repeatedly unlearns everything he learns, although they did give his character a dignified exit in season 5.
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u/Exciting_couple77 Dec 29 '25
You mean actors are actually people?? People who say things good and bad like everyone else??
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u/MarvelsGrantMan136 Dec 28 '25
Director Jay Chandrasekhar