Chevy Chase He certainly didn’t hold back as he talked about his career highs and lows in his new CNN documentary.
I’m Chevy Chase and you’re notwhich aired on Thursday, January 1, charts the comic’s rise to fame while examining the complexities and challenges that have shaped his legacy. “I’m just trying to figure you out,” director Marina Zenovich he tells Chase, 82, from behind the camera in one scene, to which he replies, “No shit, it’s not going to be easy for you.”
“Why won’t it be easy?” Zenovich asks, before Chase replies, “You’re not bright enough. How’s that?”
The sarcastic comment left Zenovich almost speechless before he said, “Whoa!”
“Well, you asked. I know you won’t bring it up, and I hope not,” Chase continued. “But my answer is that I’m complex and deep, and I can get hurt easily, and I react spontaneously to people trying to figure me out, so to speak. As someone who will hold my guard up, I won’t let anyone define me, so to speak.”
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Before the film premiered on CNN, Zenovich spoke about the way she was treated by Chase during filming.
“I’ve never done an interview where someone was so rude to me,” Zenovich said variety on Dec. 28, 2025. “But I was really worried going into the first interview with him about how I was going to say, ‘Everybody thinks you’re a jerk.’ I thought if I did, he’d throw me out of his house. So the moment he said that to me, I had a way in.”
Despite the tense exchange, Zenovich “wanted to find out who the real person was behind the conflicted, guarded, somewhat fragile man we see on camera.”
“What was behind his somewhat intimidating superstardom? Was there self-awareness? Having interviewed Chevy at length, I have to say, yes, it’s all there, and a lot of pain and heartache, too,” he added.
In addition to dealing with his controversial behavior on set, the doc talked about Chase’s controversial exit from communitywhich he starred in for four seasons from 2009 to 2012. Chase left the series after allegedly using the N-word on set while allegedly talking to the co-star. Yvette Nicole Brown.
“I know there was a story between (Chevy and Yvette) around the race, and she got up and walked out of there,” he said. community director Jai Chandrasekhar remembered in doc. “Chevy’s leaving, so the producer said, ‘We need Yvette in the scene, don’t we?’ I’m like, “Yeah, she’s in the next scene.” And he says, “Well, she’s not coming out unless Chevy apologizes.”
Chase, for his part, did not address the alleged incident between himself and Brown.
Several members of Chase’s family also appeared in the special, where they detailed the comedian’s past struggles with cocaine and alcohol. Chevy’s brother, Ned Chasehe recalled one instance where the brothers had a night out that included drugs.
“There were six to eight of us around the table, and the only person I knew was Chevy,” Ned stated in the documentary. “But in the center of the table, there was, like, a lazy Susan, and there was a kind of pyramid. That pyramid was cocaine.”
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chevy’s wife Jayne Chaselater he got a call from an ENT doctor asking him to come in. The medical professional revealed to Jayni, 68, that her husband was addicted to cocaine. She later organized an intervention for her husband, where he admitted to having a drug problem. Chevy went to the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California for help, but only stayed a week. (Chevy suffered occasional relapses, but mostly stayed clean, according to the document.)
Jayni also recalled observing that Chevy often drank while working community.
“I noticed that I was getting a six-pack of organic red wine, and after about four days, it was gone,” he said in the document. “I pointed it out to Chevy, probably five different times, and he would point it out to him again. And then he didn’t like me pointing it out to him because the beast of addiction starts to take over.”
Chevy appeared to be “functional,” so Jayni was unaware of a potential problem until her daughter Caley questioned her father’s drinking habits. (In addition to Caley, Chevy and Jayni are parents to daughters Cydney and Emily.)
“I didn’t notice right away. Caley did,” Jayni said of Chevy’s drink. “He finally said, ‘Mom, I think he’s drinking on set.’
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The documentary also talked about Chevy’s time Saturday night live — i subsequent abrupt exit – alleged other past fights with co-stars and more.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).