The new documentary film I’m Chevy Chase, and You’re Not takes a look at the life and career of a comedian who has led a somewhat controversial life and made more than a few enemies in his time. Ultimately, the new film doesn’t attempt to excuse anything that’s happened in Chase's career. The production does, however, perhaps explain some of the reasons behind the star's behavior, as well as some of the conflicting stories he’s providing, including comments involving Terry Sweeney.
One of the more attention-grabbing pieces of the new documentary surrounds Chase’s feud with former Saturday Night Live's Terry Swenney. In his own book, Sweeney described an experience on the show in the 1980s where Chase suggested a hobophobic sketch that would see the openly gay Sweeney play a character diagnosed with AIDS.
In the new documentary film, Chase denies that the exchange happened that way. Speaking with USA Today, the documentary’s director, Marina Zenovich, discusses Chase’s denial. Zenovich says that, at least in part, the denial is fueled by a simple difficulty that Chase has apologizing for anything. She said…
It does influence his denial. I think it explains it. I think it's twofold. He has a hard time apologizing − although everyone around him would say he's the first person to apologize. So it's a bit of a mixed message.
However, after spending a lot of time interviewing Chevy Chase for the documentary, Zenovich says there’s another reason that Chase may have denied the encounter. He might actually no longer remember it, or not remember the way it actually happened.
The film revealed that Chevy Chase had serious heart issues back in 2021 that actually resulted in him spending over a week in a coma. One of the lingering effects of that experience has apparently been memory loss. Zenovich does believe this memory loss also played a part in Chase’s denial of the Terry Sweeney event, as he may simply no longer remember exactly what happened. She continued…
But I think what happened with his memory loss plays a huge part. The circuitry kind of stopped and restarted again, and maybe some things got lost. Especially those things you don't want to remember.
There's potentially a lot that Chevy Chase might not want to remember as the Terry Sweeney situation is far from the only controversial story in Chase's career. The documentary film apparently had a hard time convincing anybody who was part of Community to be interviewed for the movie. Chase's history on that show led to a long-term feud with creator Dan Harmon.
If there is a medical issue at play, it certainly doesn’t excuse any inappropriate behavior, but it might at least explain why two sides remember an interaction so differently. Perhaps, if a real conversation and an apology happened Chase and Terry Sweeney might actually be able to put this behind them., Unfortunately, if one party truly doesn’t remember the event the same way, that seems quite impossible.
Viewers can check out I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not, as it's available to stream by way of CNN.com and accessible through Pay TV services. And, starting January 31, it'll also be streamable with an HBO Max subscription.
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