SNL alum Chevy Chase responds to being snubbed from the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary celebrations

Former SNL star Chevy Chase has finally broken his silence on the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary celebration. I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not will premiere on Jan. 1 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, exclusively on CNN.

Chevy Chase starred on SNL from its 1975 debut and was a staple on the show through the middle of its second season in 1976. During his long run, Chevy served as the first anchor of "Weekend Update."

In his forthcoming documentary, I’m Chevy Chase, and You’re Not, the former original cast member admitted that he was hurt after being snubbed from the big celebration.

“Well, it was upsetting, actually. 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.”

Former SNL cast member Chevy Chase said “somebody made a mistake”

The original Saturday Night Live cast member recently talked about the issue in CNN Films' forthcoming documentary, I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, as the actor was admittedly “hurt" over “how little he was tapped to be involved in the milestone anniversary celebration.” Chase further pointed out, 

“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? Why was Bill Murray there, and why was I not? I don't have an answer for that."

Chase further revealed that he even brought it up once in a text to Lorne but then took it back, as the former SNL cast member recalled, saying, 

“Okay, 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."

In an interview with the Washington Post, Chevy said that he believes that the show could be funnier in recent times, as he said further, 

“I don’t want to put down Lorne or the cast, but I’ll just say … I’m amazed that Lorne has gone so low. I had to watch a little of it, and I just couldn’t f------ believe it. That means a whole generation of s--- heads laughs at the worst f------ humour in the world."

Jayni Chase shared some insight about the SNL snub

Chase's wife, Jayni Chase, weighed in and shared in the film that there were a few people who "told Chevy up until that day that there were two bits, they were going back and forth. And then, all of a sudden, 'No, there's no bit.”

SNL creator Lorne Michaels said that there were a couple of versions of “Weekend Update” and that they went back and forth on which one to use. Michaels further added:

"There was also a caution from somebody that I don't want to name that Chevy, you know, wasn't as focused."

Popular actor Martin Short also revealed that after "50 years of casts, the special didn't include any speaking parts for some other staples of the show, including Billy Crystal, noting that there were "too many people to fill."

Stay tuned for more updates.