Chevy Chase’s Main Reason to Leave “Community” Is Something Fans Would Like to Forget

Created by Dan Harmon, the television sitcom Community premiered in 2009 and ran for 110 episodes over six seasons. The show stars Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Chevy Chase, Donald Glover, and more. As the name suggests, the sitcom is set in a community college, which the creator based on his experience of attending Glendale Community College. NBC canceled the series after five seasons, but Yahoo! Screen revived it for a sixth and final season.

The sitcom has over the years developed a cult following and received acclaim for its writing, direction, performances, and use of meta-humor and pop culture references. Actor Chevy Chase has opened up about his exit from the show, and it’s not what ardent fans of the show would like.

Community actor Chevy Chase says he ‘kind of forgot’ about the NBC sitcom

Actor Chevy Chase is popularly known for portraying bigoted, elderly millionaire Pierce Hawthorne on NBC’s sitcom Community. He appeared on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, where he revealed that he doesn’t think much about the sitcom. He shared (via IndieWire),

I kind of forgot about that. Right, they wanted me. So I said, Ok…’I kind of forgot about that. I honestly felt the show wasn’t funny enough for me.’

Speaking about his character on the show, the actor noted that he didn’t mind playing Pierce Hawthorne, but that it felt a little bit ‘constraining’. He added that everyone had their bits and pieces, and he thought all of them were good, but it wasn’t hard-hitting enough for him.

The actor shared that he felt happier being alone, noting that he just didn’t want to be surrounded by the same people at the table every day. Chase said it was too much. After Peacock greenlit the Community movie back in 2022, Chase was not announced as part of the returning cast. When asked about his relationship with the creator, Chase said,

I haven’t seen him since then. I think we’re ok; I’ve never been not ok. He’s kind of a pisser. He’s angry. He called and said he was sorry. I love him now. What does he do? Is he still doing this stuff?

Chevy Chase shared with Marc Maron that he just assumed that his reputation amongst his peers on the show was okay. Joel McHale, who played the lead, Jeff Winger, on the show, shared with The Post that he is guessing Chase wouldn’t be interested in returning for the movie either. Chase has only two TV credits since leaving Community.

Chevy Chase was written off the show after allegedly using a racial slur to ‘prove a point’

Chase, despite not being the lead on the show, was one of the biggest stars on the show who believed that he was ‘above’ television. The actor was never satisfied with the arc of his character and would take issue with how it was being developed over the season. While most of the cast had their characters’ arcs developed, Pierce Hawthorne was at times reduced to just a racist caricature, and this led to an alleged resistance between the actor and the creator.

According to a Reddit user, the Emmy award-winning actor, during the filming of Season 4, Episode 6, had to use a racially related joke, which upset him, and he used the n-word to prove a point. Chase walked off the set but came back to finish the scene, but by then someone had already leaked the information to the media, after which he screamed and left. The racial slur hurt Donald Glover , Yvette Nicole Brown and the crew, who then decided to leave the show towards the end of the season.

There have been a lot of stories about why Chevy Chase left the show, and using a racial slur has been the top story. The showrunner, Dan Harmon, was fired before the fourth season and was replaced by David Guarascio and Moses Port before he was rehired for the fifth season. Harmon, in conversation with The Independent, noted,

During season three we started breaking a story about bringing Jeff Winger’s dad into the mix, and I remember getting a phone call warning me not to make it too dark. I said, ‘Well, I just won’t do it, and if you guys ever decide to fire me, you can do the version of a father story without me.’

He added that he told the studios that he was not going to break the story about Jeff Winger meeting his estranged con artist father, with the mandate that it put a pep in the step for people who don’t watch the show. Harmon said that this was the conversation that got him fired. He also acknowledged that he had a habit of saying, ‘Fire me then,’ to what he perceived as unresolvable conversations.

Joel McHale addresses Chevy Chase’s diss about Community

Actor Joel McHale, in a conversation with People, addressed the comments made by Chevy Chase about him disliking being on the show by stating that he stopped hurting his feelings in 2009.

McHale on Chase’s comment about not being happy around the cast said,

Hey, no one was keeping you there. I mean we weren’t sentenced to that show. It was like, ‘All right, you could have left if you wanted that. I wrote about this in my book, but I was like, ‘Hey, the feeling’s mutual, bud.’

In his conversation with Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast, McHale shared that being on the sitcom wasn’t like a prison sentence, adding that they weren’t conscripted into a war. He recalled that Chase, who thought the show wasn’t funny enough for him, was being paid a lot of money, getting free food, all that, so he could just walk away.

Talking about his probable return for the movie, McHale noted that Chevy Chase returning is not a thing. He also noted that according to him, Chase is not allowed to be on the show.

How was Chevy Chase written off Community?

Despite being a troublesome on- and off-screen, Chevy Chase’s Pierce Hawthorne wasn’t an easy character to write off. However, the character’s exit was well-fitted for the show. Shirley informs the gang that Pierce has passed away, and then it’s his funeral scene, and it shows the crew listening to Pierce’s final will.

Brown left the show citing personal reasons and Glover decided to leave to go on a rap tour, but he appeared in five episodes of Season 5. (via CBR)

Alison Brie, who played Annie Edison on the show, revealed on Watch What Happens Live that after hearing and reading Chevy Chase’s comments about the show, she’s not surprised. She said that when you read something in a headline, it reads much harsher. She noted that everyone is entitled to their opinion and their experience on the show.

Brie noted that she didn’t take his jokes personally. The actress, however, went on to share when asked about his upcoming movie by stating that she hopes her character hasn’t changed too much because she loved her the way she was.

The actress noted that she has no information about the potential project. She said that she had read the script and it was funny.

Community is available to stream on Prime Video.