Chevy Chase is breaking his silence about how “hurt” he was to be left out of the televised “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” earlier this year.
Chase, 82, was an original cast member of NBC’s live sketch comedy show in 1975 before leaving the show in its second season to focus on a successful movie career.
Now, the comedy legend reveals in the upcoming CNN Films documentary “I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not,” out Jan. 1, 2026, that not being included in the show’s live three-hour birthday bash on Feb. 16 was a disappointment.
“Well, it was kind of upsetting, actually,” Chase says in the documentary. “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?”
The “National Lampoon’s Vacation” star, who did attend the special with wife Jayni Chase, goes on to say he later broached the subject with “SNL” creator and producer Lorne Michaels.
“I did bring it up once in a text to Lorne and then took it back,” he says. “I said, ‘OK, 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.”
Chase, who was the first to anchor the show’s “Weekend Update” segment, also points out in the doc that Bill Murray, 75, who took over the segment when he joined “SNL” in Season 2, also hosted the “Weekend Update” portion of the birthday special.
NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Chevy Chase during “Weekend Update” on an episode of “Saturday Night Live.”
“Why was Bill Murray there and why was I not?” asks Chase. “I don’t have an answer for that.”
Chase’s wife also expressed her frustration about her husband’s omission from the milestone celebration.
“They told Chevy up until that day that there were two bits (and) they were going back and forth,” she says in the upcoming doc. “And then all of a sudden, there’s no bit.”
“I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not” premieres on Jan. 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CNN.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
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