We All Know Chevy Chase Had Beef After Not Being Involved With SNL50, But Martin Short Defended The Decision

by

Chevy Chase, best known as an original cast member on Saturday Night Live, has publicly expressed his sadness about not being included in the show’s 50th-anniversary celebration. A new CNN documentary, I’m Chevy Chase, And You’re Not, reveals the extent of his frustration, sparking renewed discussion about his career and personality. However, not everyone believes his exclusion was intentional; Martin Short, a former co-star, recently explained the possible reasons behind the decision.

Why Chevy Chase Felt Snubbed By SNL50

In a CNN documentary, Chase talks about his time on Saturday Night Live and how he felt being left out of SNL50, the big celebration marking the show’s 50th anniversary. As one of the very first cast members and a major early star, it was clearly upsetting for him to be excluded. He explained, saying:

I thought I would have been performing on stage with the rest of the cast, but when Garrett Morris and Laraine Newman went up there, I wondered why I wasn’t included. No one ever asked me to join them, and I didn’t understand why I was left out.

The movie shows his anger as part of a larger issue, connecting it to the well-known disagreements between the actor, famous for playing Fletch, and the Saturday Night Live show, which have been happening throughout his career.

Martin Short Explains Why Not Everyone Could Be Included

Martin Short, who used to be on Saturday Night Live and worked with Chevy Chase in The Three Amigos, offered a perspective on Chase’s unhappiness. Rather than seeing it as a personal offense, Short explained that organizing the anniversary celebration was incredibly difficult. He pointed out how challenging it was to make sure everyone felt included and fairly represented.

Over the past fifty years, countless people have hosted the show. Even Billy Crystal, a huge star, was speechless one night – there are simply too many to try and include them all.

It’s significant that even Billy Crystal, a well-known performer and a memorable cast member on Saturday Night Live, didn’t stand out during this particular event. Despite already being famous when he joined the show, he seemed to take a supporting role.

Martin Short acknowledged Chevy Chase’s work, but he raised a valid point: with over 160 cast members appearing on the show over the past 50 years, it’s tough to include everyone. During the 50th anniversary celebration, there simply wasn’t enough time to feature all the performers, writers, and guest stars. Even Bill Hader, a very popular cast member, wasn’t able to be included.

Lorne Michaels, who created Saturday Night Live, also talked about the situation with Chevy Chase in the documentary, sharing what went on behind the scenes while planning the anniversary special. He said they filmed a few different versions of the Weekend Update sketch, and some of them actually featured the famous comedian from National Lampoon’s.

We discussed this back and forth for a while. Someone – who I won’t identify – also expressed concern that Chevy didn’t seem as dedicated or concentrated.

The statement is carefully crafted and aligns with the overall picture painted by the documentary. Chevy Chase’s history of being challenging didn’t happen without reason, and the film seems to reinforce that reputation, particularly after his harsh comments about the director became widely shared. Additionally, the comments suggest practical issues were involved, such as concerns about Chase’s focus and memory related to his health, which made producers hesitant to put him in such a visible role.

Chevy Chase Has A Complicated Legacy

Look, Short and Michaels’ recent comments don’t undo how Chevy Chase felt, but they do help me understand the situation a little better. It seems like the SNL 50th special wasn’t about ranking or judging anyone’s career. It was a huge party for 50 years of Saturday Night Live, and with so much history and so little time, it was tough to cover everything perfectly. It just felt like a celebration, not a critique.

Despite that difference in perspective, it probably doesn’t offer much solace to the 82-year-old comedian known for Cops & Robbers. And given the continued discussion surrounding his recent memoir, I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, this likely isn’t the end of his complex history with Saturday Night Live. The documentary is currently available on demand through CNN and will be widely available on HBO Max starting January 31.

Read More

2026-01-07 20:12