Chevy Chase Shares His Feelings About Being Left Out of the ‘SNL50’ Anniversary Special

Chevy Chase, a former cast member of Saturday Night Live, expressed his disappointment over being excluded from performances during the February special, SNL50: The Anniversary Special. In an upcoming documentary titled I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, he stated that he felt “hurt” by the decision.

“Well, it was kind of upsetting actually,” Chase revealed. “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?”

At the anniversary special, which celebrated 50 years of the iconic show, Chase was present in the audience. According to the documentary, there were initial plans for his involvement. His wife, Jayni Chase, disclosed that he was informed “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,’” she said.

Chase, who was the first Weekend Update host during the show’s inaugural season from 1975 to 1976, is known for his catchphrase introduction, “I’m Chevy Chase… and you’re not.” In the documentary, he further questioned, “Why was Bill Murray there and why was I not? I don’t have an answer for that.”

He admitted to addressing his frustration once through a text to Lorne Michaels but later retracted his message. “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,” he added.

Chase was a prominent figure on SNL during its formative years, receiving two Primetime Emmy awards for his work as both a performer and writer out of four nominations. The documentary aims to provide an “authorized yet unfiltered” look into Chase’s life, featuring interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, all while seeking to uncover the layers behind his public persona.

I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not is set to premiere on January 1 at 8 PM ET/PT on CNN.