Earlier this year, as fans tuned in to SNL50: The Anniversary Special, they cheered in unison at the return of some of the comedy show’s most important icons. The special, which celebrated five decades of Saturday Night Live, featured plenty of new guests, as well as legacy cast members. But not counted among them was Chevy Chase, who was notably absent. One of the original cast members – who appeared in the debut on October 11, 1975 – Chase was not invited to participate other honorable guests. Now, he breaks his silence, and says that the snub was likely a “mistake” and it was quite “upsetting” to see everyone there but him. As reported by People, the controversial comedy star has addressed SNL50 in his documentary, I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not. The feature, which premieres January 1 on CNN, sees Chase looking through his entire career, with special appearances by his colleagues and close ones. Chase says that he expected to be invited to the 50th anniversary special, but he never got the invitation from show creator Lorne Michaels. He was the original anchor of the segment known as “Weekend Update,” and one of the first writers on the show. Chase left the series in the middle of the second season in 1976, and went on to become a comedy legend. But as famous as he became, he also became known for being a difficult actor to work with. Although no one has publicly admitted this, it couldn’t have helped him when Michaels was deciding who to invite for such a high-profile anniversary special. The actor says:
“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? Why was Bill Murray there, and why was I not? I don’t have an answer for that.
“I did bring it up once in a text to Lorne and then took it back. I said, ‘Okay, I take it back, silly.’ But it’s not that silly. 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.”

Chevy Chase’s Exclusion From ‘SNL50’ Was Likely Due to His Infamous Antics

Chevy Chase as Clark in VacationWarner Bros.

In the documentary, the actor’s wife, Jayni Chase, says that there were plans to include the comedy legend at some point: “[They] told Chevy up until that day that there were two bits, they were going back and forth. And then, all of a sudden, ‘No, there’s no bit.'” Michaels, on the other hand, also discusses this in the doc: “There were a couple versions of [Weekend Update] and 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.” Those familiar with Chase’s infamous on-set behavior know that not everyone would have been happy to have him around on Studio 8H. While he has a legacy in the comedy universe, Chase is now known as a difficult person to work with. There have been several allegations about problematic behavior, with his controversial firing from the sitcom Community being one of the recent examples.

If Chase had been invited to SNL50, no one would have been able to predict what would have happened. Although he deserves some credit over the creation of the comedy staple, inviting Chase may simply have felt too risky.

Release Date

October 11, 1975

Network

NBC

Andrew Dismukes

Self (archive footage)

Chloe Fineman

Self / Margaret Jo McCullin / Various