Alison Brie Responds to Chevy Chase's Comments About 'Community' Not Being Funny Enough for Him
Alison Brie is letting former Community co-star Chevy Chase's comments roll off her back.
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, virtual fans asked the Apples Never Fall actress for her reaction to Chase's headline-making comments about the show -- calling it not "funny enough" for him, for example -- last year. Chase made the comments on Marc Maron's podcast, WTF, and Brie noted she heard the comments live because she often listens to the podcast since Maron is her former Glow co-star.
"I actually think that was the better way to digest that information 'cause I could hear Chevy's tone," she said, noting it read much harsher in a headline.
"I was kind of like, 'Oh, it’s just Chevy being Chevy and he’s entitled to his opinions and his experience of the show," she said. "I don’t take it personally."
During the podcast episode back in September 2023, Chase told Maron, "I honestly felt the show wasn’t funny enough for me ultimately."
"I felt a little bit constrained," he continued. "Everybody had their bits and stuff and I thought they were all good."
However, "It just wasn’t hard-hitting enough for me," Chase said.
While Chase said he "didn’t mind" his character, Pierce Hawthorne, "I felt happier being alone in a sense," the SNL alum admitted. "I just didn’t want to be surrounded by that table every day with those people. It was too much."
Chase -- who reportedly had conflicts with series creator Dan Harmon and co-star Donald Glover -- played Hawthorne, an antagonistic millionaire CEO enrolled at the community college, from season 1 until his exit in season 4 and appeared in a cameo in the premiere episode of the fifth season. During that season, it was revealed the character had died.
"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 later told The New Yorker in 2018. "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 told the magazine then, "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."
In response, Chase told The New Yorker, "I am saddened to hear that Donald perceived me in that light."
Chevy Chase starred as Pierce Hawthorne on four seasons of the NBC sitcom, 'Community.'
While a Community movie is officially in the works with a completed script and filming slated to kick off this summer, fans should not expect Chase to participate.
"Yeah, I don't think so," Joel McHale said on Kelly Ripa's podcast, Let's Talk Off Camera, in June 2023.
"There wasn't any issues at all when we were making the show," he joked. "Well, technically, his character died... He died and he was off the show."
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