Cocaine, abuse, 'full meltdown' – Chevy Chase doc revelations
- - Cocaine, abuse, 'full meltdown' – Chevy Chase doc revelations
Erin Jensen, USA TODAYJanuary 2, 2026 at 4:01 AM
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Far from a "Christmas Vacation," CNN's Chevy Chase documentary doesn't shy away from the actor's marred legacy.
"Chevy's a very smart guy," says Marina Zenovich, director of "I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not" (premiering New Year's Day, 8 ET/PT). "This wasn't going to be a hagiography. So of course I'm going to dig into those things."
Featuring interviews with Chase's family – his wife of 43 years, Jayni, their three daughters, and Chase's brothers – as well as his costars, including Dan Aykroyd, Beverly D'Angelo, Goldie Hawn and Martin Short − the film revisits Chase's early days of living in a cockroach-filled apartment on Lexington Avenue in New York City and bowing out as the drummer of the band that would become Steely Dan.
In the documentary, the actor also reveals how hurt he was when he wasn't included in a sketch for February's 50th anniversary of "Saturday Night Live" (he was a member of the show's inaugural cast) and the impact of heart failure, which has affected his memory. The film also addresses his shadow side, which struggled with a reliance on cocaine and alcohol and had a "full meltdown" on set.
Chevy Chase's abusive stepfather, 'out of control' mom
Chase's parents divorced when he was around 4. His mother, Cathalene, remarried to a man named John Cederquist. He "had a flash anger," Chase's half-brother, also named John Cederquist, says, "and he could lash out with a single blow and no talk before or after. He did not take to anything that he perceived as insolence. Chevy was insolent."
Chase, now 82, remembers being slapped at breakfast by his stepfather; he says his mother was also abusive. In the documentary, Chase says he was raised by "an out-of-control woman, who I look back on, and I say I feel sorry for her. She had her own issues. Bad ones."
Wife Jayni says in the film: "The first time we stayed together, the first time I went to wake him up, he shuddered. And he explained, 'Well, my mother would wake me up slapping me,' from the time he was a little guy."
"Our mother was a bag of cats," Chase's brother John says, "certainly on the schizoid spectrum."
The comedian, 82, was part of the original cast of "Saturday Night Live" in 1975 and after leaving the show starred in a string of hit comedies throughout the 1980s, including "Caddyshack" and "National Lampoon's Vacation."With the documentary "I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not" set to premiere on CNN, scroll through for a look back at Chase's career, starting with Chase with his "Saturday Night Live" costars in 1975.
" style=padding-bottom:56%>Chevy Chase is looking back on a lifetime of laughs in a new documentary about his distinguished comedy career.The comedian, 82, was part of the original cast of "Saturday Night Live" in 1975 and after leaving the show starred in a string of hit comedies throughout the 1980s, including "Caddyshack" and "National Lampoon's Vacation."With the documentary "I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not" set to premiere on CNN, scroll through for a look back at Chase's career, starting with Chase with his "Saturday Night Live" costars in 1975.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ZPdIYJ1Yn_2MX9sNZveCdg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04NDY-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/ef9b3e85e9e2f9a4c80f3691ace43012 class=caas-img data-headline="From 'Caddyshack' to 'National Lampoon,' see Chevy Chase's memorable roles" data-caption="
Chevy Chase is looking back on a lifetime of laughs in a new documentary about his distinguished comedy career.The comedian, 82, was part of the original cast of "Saturday Night Live" in 1975 and after leaving the show starred in a string of hit comedies throughout the 1980s, including "Caddyshack" and "National Lampoon's Vacation."With the documentary "I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not" set to premiere on CNN, scroll through for a look back at Chase's career, starting with Chase with his "Saturday Night Live" costars in 1975.
">Chevy Chase is looking back on a lifetime of laughs in a new documentary about his distinguished comedy career.The comedian, 82, was part of the original cast of "Saturday Night Live" in 1975 and after leaving the show starred in a string of hit comedies throughout the 1980s, including "Caddyshack" and "National Lampoon's Vacation."With the documentary "I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not" set to premiere on CNN, scroll through for a look back at Chase's career, starting with Chase with his "Saturday Night Live" costars in 1975.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ZPdIYJ1Yn_2MX9sNZveCdg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04NDY-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/ef9b3e85e9e2f9a4c80f3691ace43012 class=caas-img>Chevy Chase was known for his recurring "Weekend Update" anchor role on "Saturday Night Live."
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/jE0RBgNnRvUlb0KpXHSD4Q--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04NjQ-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/b93d261c3682bbd7ca21004795c821db class=caas-img data-headline="From 'Caddyshack' to 'National Lampoon,' see Chevy Chase's memorable roles" data-caption="
Chevy Chase was known for his recurring "Weekend Update" anchor role on "Saturday Night Live."
">Chevy Chase was known for his recurring "Weekend Update" anchor role on "Saturday Night Live."
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/jE0RBgNnRvUlb0KpXHSD4Q--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04NjQ-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/b93d261c3682bbd7ca21004795c821db class=caas-img>One of Chevy Chase's iconic roles was as Clark Griswold in the 1985 film "National Lampoon's Vacation" alongside Beverly D'Angelo as his wife Ellen, Anthony Michael Hall as his son Rusty and Dana Barron as his daughter Audrey.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ZZutc.42n6hI_vHNv05YlA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04MjI-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/4c28dcdc721730878f75f26fff8b9adc class=caas-img data-headline="From 'Caddyshack' to 'National Lampoon,' see Chevy Chase's memorable roles" data-caption="
One of Chevy Chase's iconic roles was as Clark Griswold in the 1985 film "National Lampoon's Vacation" alongside Beverly D'Angelo as his wife Ellen, Anthony Michael Hall as his son Rusty and Dana Barron as his daughter Audrey.
">One of Chevy Chase's iconic roles was as Clark Griswold in the 1985 film "National Lampoon's Vacation" alongside Beverly D'Angelo as his wife Ellen, Anthony Michael Hall as his son Rusty and Dana Barron as his daughter Audrey.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ZZutc.42n6hI_vHNv05YlA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04MjI-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/4c28dcdc721730878f75f26fff8b9adc class=caas-img>Chevy Chase in the 1989 film "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/xhoHraAD_6vOIib3mrchQw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mzk-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/d1f2f8a0990f2fad91bc37b77a79c77d class=caas-img data-headline="From 'Caddyshack' to 'National Lampoon,' see Chevy Chase's memorable roles" data-caption="
Chevy Chase in the 1989 film "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."
">Chevy Chase in the 1989 film "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/xhoHraAD_6vOIib3mrchQw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mzk-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/d1f2f8a0990f2fad91bc37b77a79c77d class=caas-img>Chevy Chase starred in the 1997 film "Vegas Vacation."
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/RM_d3WZCsjHSBDIg5jtwfg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04MTg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/289edd828795829698f38c7c14920cdb class=caas-img data-headline="From 'Caddyshack' to 'National Lampoon,' see Chevy Chase's memorable roles" data-caption="
Chevy Chase starred in the 1997 film "Vegas Vacation."
">Chevy Chase starred in the 1997 film "Vegas Vacation."
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/RM_d3WZCsjHSBDIg5jtwfg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04MTg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/289edd828795829698f38c7c14920cdb class=caas-img>Chevy Chase appeared in the 2000 film "Snow Day."
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/BMjZyOBj51tC4kNnY3d1jQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/4491891bb3f5daa4e8e644ec71bf05c4 class=caas-img data-headline="From 'Caddyshack' to 'National Lampoon,' see Chevy Chase's memorable roles" data-caption="
Chevy Chase appeared in the 2000 film "Snow Day."
">Chevy Chase appeared in the 2000 film "Snow Day."
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/BMjZyOBj51tC4kNnY3d1jQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/4491891bb3f5daa4e8e644ec71bf05c4 class=caas-img>Chevy Chase, seen here with Gillian Jacobs, starred on the NBC sitcom "Community."
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/3PwgLr9mruFCgM2rHgZxfA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04MjY-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/47e5e6c145530b53ab95cc8ddf0b9816 class=caas-img data-headline="From 'Caddyshack' to 'National Lampoon,' see Chevy Chase's memorable roles" data-caption="
Chevy Chase, seen here with Gillian Jacobs, starred on the NBC sitcom "Community."
">Chevy Chase, seen here with Gillian Jacobs, starred on the NBC sitcom "Community."
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/3PwgLr9mruFCgM2rHgZxfA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04MjY-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/47e5e6c145530b53ab95cc8ddf0b9816 class=caas-img>Chevy Chase appeared in the 2010 comedy film "Hot Tub Time Machine."
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/3PVSgJWBqUjomwTVmniLeg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/4edd3d4c725308c802cc24f6085b81af class=caas-img data-headline="From 'Caddyshack' to 'National Lampoon,' see Chevy Chase's memorable roles" data-caption="
Chevy Chase appeared in the 2010 comedy film "Hot Tub Time Machine."
">Chevy Chase appeared in the 2010 comedy film "Hot Tub Time Machine."
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/3PVSgJWBqUjomwTVmniLeg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04Mjg-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/4edd3d4c725308c802cc24f6085b81af class=caas-img>Chevy Chase returned as Clark Griswold in the 2015 film "Vacation" with Beverly D'angelo. Ed Helms starred as Rusty Griswold with Christina Applegate as Rusty's wife Debbie Griswold, along with Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins as their kids.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/HMUN.LxFecXn2ZYww_JJ3w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04MzA-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/935ffe3241c4a3d9a204d3137342a848 class=caas-img data-headline="From 'Caddyshack' to 'National Lampoon,' see Chevy Chase's memorable roles" data-caption="
Chevy Chase returned as Clark Griswold in the 2015 film "Vacation" with Beverly D'angelo. Ed Helms starred as Rusty Griswold with Christina Applegate as Rusty's wife Debbie Griswold, along with Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins as their kids.
">Chevy Chase returned as Clark Griswold in the 2015 film "Vacation" with Beverly D'angelo. Ed Helms starred as Rusty Griswold with Christina Applegate as Rusty's wife Debbie Griswold, along with Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins as their kids.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/HMUN.LxFecXn2ZYww_JJ3w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD04MzA-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/935ffe3241c4a3d9a204d3137342a848 class=caas-img>Chevy Chase poses for a portrait during the People's Choice Awards 2010 held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Jan. 6, 2010, in Los Angeles.
" data-src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ybaMzLbc40mHKwlnSzr_Dw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD0xODY4/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/5a6172055f03d1fc3d9712e748ee30cc class=caas-img data-headline="From 'Caddyshack' to 'National Lampoon,' see Chevy Chase's memorable roles" data-caption="
Chevy Chase poses for a portrait during the People's Choice Awards 2010 held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Jan. 6, 2010, in Los Angeles.
">Chevy Chase poses for a portrait during the People's Choice Awards 2010 held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Jan. 6, 2010, in Los Angeles.
" src=https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/ybaMzLbc40mHKwlnSzr_Dw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTEyNDI7aD0xODY4/https://media.zenfs.com/en/usa_today_slideshows_242/5a6172055f03d1fc3d9712e748ee30cc class=caas-img>
1 / 10From 'Caddyshack' to 'National Lampoon,' see Chevy Chase's memorable roles
Chevy Chase is looking back on a lifetime of laughs in a new documentary about his distinguished comedy career.The comedian, 82, was part of the original cast of "Saturday Night Live" in 1975 and after leaving the show starred in a string of hit comedies throughout the 1980s, including "Caddyshack" and "National Lampoon's Vacation."With the documentary "I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not" set to premiere on CNN, scroll through for a look back at Chase's career, starting with Chase with his "Saturday Night Live" costars in 1975.
Chevy Chase enters rehab for cocaine addiction
Others at "Saturday Night Live" took drugs to keep up with the demands of a live weekly sketch show, but "the person that they worried about the most was Chevy," says James Andrew Miller, coauthor of "Live From New York." "He was doing a lot of drugs."
Producer Alan Greisman recalls a vacation to Hawaii in 1981 when Chase "had somebody ship him many ounces of coke in a special shaving cream can, which you could twist in a certain way and get to the coke."
Chase's brother, Ned, also recalls cocaine being a table centerpiece at a dinner in LA. "In the center of the table, there was, like, a lazy Susan" with a pyramid on it, Ned says. "That pyramid was cocaine."
The comedian's cocaine use became unavoidable in 1986 when a doctor informed Jayni of her husband's addiction. So they held an intervention. "He said, 'I know I need to stop, and I know I need help,'" Jayni remembers.
That year, Chase was admitted to the Betty Ford treatment center in Rancho Mirage, California, telling the public it was for a dependency on painkillers. "But after a week, he called me and begged me to come pick him up," Jayni says.
Chevy Chase is the subject of CNN's new documentary, "I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not."Chevy Chase denies Terry Sweeney's account of 'SNL' hosting
When Chase returned to host "SNL" in 1985, he clashed with the show's first openly gay cast member, Terry Sweeney. Jon Lovitz recalled in the book "Live From New York" that Chase asked Sweeney to lick his testicles.
"I think Chevy was just being Chevy," "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels says. "We would say terrible things because that's what would make us laugh."
Sweeney, who declined to be interviewed for the documentary, described Chase as "a monster" in the "SNL" oral history "Live From New York." He "insulted everybody," Sweeney said, and suggested a sketch in which Sweeney contracted AIDS and is weighed weekly.
Hearing the joke in the documentary makes Chase laugh uncomfortably. "That's the worst," he assesses before expressing his hope that Sweeney is dead, "because I don't want you talking to him about this."
Terry Sweeney, a member of the cast when Chevy Chase hosted in 1985, poses at "SNL50" on Feb. 16, 2025 in New York City.
When a member of the crew suggests a reading from "Live From New York," Chase replies: "Oh, this is great, thanks. This will make my day."
Sweeney wrote in the book that Chase was asked to apologize and was "really furious" about that. "None of that's true," Chase insists. "I would remember that … that I was angry, that I had to apologize to him. … My memory is that he's lying, is my memory. He's not telling the truth."
Sweeney, in an online conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, doubled down on his loathing of Chase. "It all reflects rightly horribly on him!" Sweeney told the outlet. Sweeney also doesn't allow Chase's childhood abuse to excuse his behavior.
"Boohoo … poor screwed up kid … so THAT’s why he’s so rotten!!!!!!!" Sweeney told the outlet. USA TODAY reached out to reps for Sweeney and Chase for comment.
Chevy Chase's 'meltdown' on the set of 'Community'
Jay Chandrasekhar, who directed episodes of "Community" (2009–2015), noticed "a little bit of negativity around Chevy and rest of the cast." Chandrasekhar says that to minimize Chase's time on set with costars Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, Donald Glover, Gillian Jacobs, Ken Jeong and Joel McHale, series creator Dan Harmon broke Chase's character's legs in Season 2 to isolate him.
Jayni says Chase was viewed as "the old fart" on the show and noticed him drinking heavily.
"He was not an alcoholic all those years, but alcoholism is a whole different level," she says. "It really takes over, and that was hard for him to stop."
Chase had concerns about his character, Pierce Hawthorne.
"They were writing his character more and more bigoted," Chase's daughter Caley says, "and he was getting upset about it."
Dan Harmon, creator of "Community" speaks during a panel with actors Danny Pudi and Gillian Jacobs (top row) and Chevy Chase and Joel McHale (bottom row) on Aug. 5, 2009 in Pasadena, California.
"Harmon writes this, a blackface hand-puppet routine," Chandrasekhar says, referencing an episode in Season 4 filmed in 2012 that he directed. "The character is a little tone deaf on this thing. Now had it been Chevy in his heyday he would've been totally fine. He said something to Yvette. I know that there was a history between those two around race, and she got up and stormed out of there. Chevy storms off."
At the time, The Hollywood Reporter, citing an unidentified source, said Chase used a racial slur "while venting his ongoing frustration with his character … when questioning the dialogue in a scene" with Brown and Glover, who are Black. "The slur was not directed at them," the source says.
Chandrasekhar says in the documentary that Brown refused to resume filming unless Chase apologized.
"He comes back on the set, and he goes, 'Hey man, I didn't say anything,'" Chandrasekhar says. "And I’m like: 'No, I know. I know.' He goes, 'You know me and Richard Pryor, I used to call Richard Pryor the N-word. He used to call me The Honkey, and we loved each other.' And I'm like, 'I know, man. I love that bit.'"
"Community" costars in happier times. Yvette Nicole Brown and Chevy Chase embrace during a Comic-Con party on July 23, 2010 in San Diego.
When Chandrasekhar asked for an apology, he says Chase replied, "For what?"
According to The Hollywood Reporter’s 2012 report, Chase "apologized immediately."
Chandrasekhar says that after the incident made news, Chase "comes storming onto the set, and he goes, 'Who f----- me over?… My career is ruined. I'm ruined!'"
"It's a full meltdown," Chandrasekhar adds. "'F--- all of you!'"
Pierce's death was revealed in Season 5.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chevy Chase documentary reveals 'pyramid' of cocaine, 'full meltdown'
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
