Chevy Chase doesn’t concern himself with what people think of him.
In a new interview on “CBS Sunday Morning”, the 78-year-old comedian addressed his notorious status as a a difficult person to work with.
READ MORE: Chevy Chase Serves Customers At Fried Chicken Restaurant Drive-Thru
“Community” creator Dam Harmon talked to The New Yorker in 2018 about Chase’s behaviour on-set, including his interactions with co-star Donald Glover.
“Chevy was the first to realize how immensely gifted Donald was, and the way he expressed his jealousy was to try to throw Donald off,” Harmon said. “I remember apologizing to Donald after a particularly rough night of Chevy’s non-P.C. verbiage, and Donald said, ‘I don’t even worry about it.’”
Glover added, “I just saw Chevy as fighting time — a true artist has to be OK with his reign being over. I can’t help him if he’s thrashing in the water. But I know there’s a human in there somewhere — he’s almost too human.”
Chase told The New Yorker at the time, “I am saddened to hear that Donald perceived me in that light.”
In the new interview, “CBS Sunday Morning” journalist Jim Axelrod asked the actor, “When you read that stuff — ‘Chevy’s been a jerk’ — are those unfounded cheap shots?”
“I guess you’d have to ask them. I don’t give a crap!” Chase laughed. “I am who I am. And I like where, who I am. I don’t care. And it’s part of me that I don’t care. And I’ve thought about that a lot. And I don’t know what to tell you, man. I just don’t care.”
In his personal life, Chase has recently dealt with some significant issues, including suffering nearly fatal heart failure last year, though he is doing well after recovery.
“Oh, we removed it. Didn’t need it. It’s much better now,” Chase joked.
Earlier in his life, Chase grew up with a stepfather who was abusive to him and his brother.
“Yeah, he hit. I was afraid all the time growing up. And I still have a lot of that fear in me. So, in a sense it did shape my path, yeah. It sort of made me want to take those people out,” he said. “Bullies — I hated bullies.”
Asked if that upbringing fuelled some of his comedy, Chase said, “Yeah. I think if you speak to many comedians they’ll say, ‘The pain, the fear,'” he said. “It comes from their childhood somewhere, you know?”
