As the new CNN documentary I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not premieres, a decades-old controversy involving comedian Chevy Chase and former Saturday Night Live (SNL) cast member Terry Sweeney is once again at the center of public debate. The film, directed by Marina Zenovich, delves into Chase’s storied and often tumultuous career, but it’s the resurfacing of an offensive AIDS joke pitched by Chase in the mid-1980s that has reignited old wounds and sparked fresh criticism.
Terry Sweeney, now 75, broke barriers as the first openly gay male actor on SNL during the 1985-86 season. Hired initially as a writer, Sweeney quickly became a standout performer, though he often found himself cast in sketches that played on gay stereotypes or required him to perform in drag. His time on the show coincided with the height of the AIDS epidemic—a period of heightened fear, misinformation, and stigma, particularly targeting the LGBTQ community. It was against this backdrop that Chase, returning to host SNL after his breakout stint in the show’s inaugural season, pitched what Sweeney would later describe as a deeply insensitive sketch.
According to the documentary and corroborated by multiple outlets including The Hollywood Reporter and Daily Mail, director Marina Zenovich reminded Chase of the moment: “You said something to Sweeney like, ‘Oh, you’re the gay guy. Why don’t we ask if you have AIDS? And every week, we weigh you.’” Chase, now 82, responded with an awkward laugh and said, “That’s the worst,” before adding, “Terry Sweeney, he was very funny, this guy. I don’t think he’s alive anymore.” He later clarified, with a touch of dark humor, that he hoped Sweeney was dead, “because I don’t want you talking to him about this.”
Sweeney, who declined to participate in the documentary, was quick to respond in comments to The Hollywood Reporter and the New York Post. “Don’t you think he is saying this and making himself look more like the ass he is!!!” Sweeney wrote. He didn’t mince words, calling Chase “one of those turds you flush down the toilet but it comes back up again and again.” Sweeney’s outrage wasn’t just about the tastelessness of the joke, but also about what he saw as Chase’s insincerity in addressing the harm caused.
In Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller’s oral history Live from New York, Sweeney recounted that Chase was “furious that he had to apologize to me.” Chase, for his part, flatly denied this characterization both in the documentary and in the book, insisting, “None of that’s true. I would remember that… that I was angry, that I had to apologize to him. My memory is that he is lying, is my memory. He’s not telling the truth. That isn’t me. That’s not who I am. And if I am that way, my life has changed, because I have to live with that now for the rest of my fucking life.”
The documentary also explores possible explanations for Chase’s behavior, including a difficult upbringing marked by parental abuse. Chase himself brings this up, suggesting that his “asshole” reputation might be rooted in childhood trauma. Sweeney, however, is unmoved by such revelations. “Boohoo… poor screwed up kid… so THAT’s why he’s so rotten!!!!!!!” he wrote, dismissing the notion that past trauma could excuse present-day insensitivity.
Notably, SNL creator and producer Lorne Michaels appears in the documentary to offer some context—and, to a degree, a defense of Chase. “I think Chevy was just being Chevy. He would say things that were funny, and he would assume you were comedy people, and he could speak that way,” Michaels said. “You know, we would say terrible things, because that’s what would make us laugh.” It’s a sentiment that reflects the rough-and-tumble culture of comedy writing rooms of the era, where boundaries were often pushed and the line between edgy and offensive could be perilously thin.
Yet, for Sweeney, the experience was more than just a case of bad taste. He alleges that Chase’s conduct went beyond the AIDS joke, claiming in Live from New York that Chase once asked him to lick his testicles—a claim Chase denies. Sweeney describes Chase as a “monster” who “insulted everybody” during his week hosting SNL. Whether or not these additional allegations are ever fully substantiated, they add to a pattern of complaints about Chase’s behavior from colleagues over the years.
Chase’s reputation for being difficult is not exactly news in the entertainment industry. His time on NBC’s Community also ended in controversy, with none of the principal cast or creator Dan Harmon choosing to comment for the documentary. Ahead of the documentary’s release, former co-star Yvette Nicole Brown issued a statement on social media, distancing herself from the controversy: “Anyone currently speaking FOR or ABOUT me with perceived authority is speaking without EVER speaking to me about the things they claim to know about. They actually don’t really know me—at all. They also have no knowledge of my relationship with anyone I’ve worked with & cannot credibly speak on any current or previous issues. I hate that this all had to be said. In East Cleveland speak: Keep my name out of your mouth.”
Complicating matters further, Chase revealed in the documentary that he suffers from memory loss following a health crisis in 2021, when he was in a coma for eight days due to heart failure. “It’s just that it affects your memory,” Chase explained. “So, I have to be reminded of things.” Director Zenovich speculated to USA Today that this memory loss could play a role in Chase’s repeated denials: “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.”
For many observers, the controversy is emblematic of larger shifts in comedy and culture. What might have once passed as edgy or provocative humor is now understood to carry real consequences, particularly for those already marginalized. Sweeney’s experience as the only openly gay cast member at SNL during a time of national crisis is a reminder of the personal toll such “jokes” can take.
As I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not airs, it does more than revisit a single incident—it invites viewers to consider the legacy of comedy legends, the boundaries of humor, and the importance of accountability. The wounds of the past, it seems, are never quite as distant as we’d like to think.
