'SNL' Alum Insulted By Chevy Chase 40 Years Ago Now Proclaims, 'He's So Rotten!!'
HuffPost
Terry Sweeney, the show's first openly gay cast member, didn't hold back his thoughts about Chase's bad behavior.
A former “SNL” cast member is calling out Chevy Chase for a cruel and tasteless joke the comedian said to him 40 years ago.
The 82-year-old comedian, who became a star during the show’s first season in 1975, is the subject of a new CNN documentary, “I’m Chevy Chase And You’re Not” that recounts various aspects of his life.
The documentary examines his long history of offending his co-stars, but one particular remark he made to a cast member while guest hosting during the 1985-86 season still stands out for its unnecessary viciousness.
The remark was an exchange Chase had with Terry Sweeney, the show’s first openly gay cast member in its history, and it looms so large in “SNL” history that Marina Zenovich, the documentary’s director, was obliged to bring it up while interviewing Chase.
“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,’” she reminded Chase, who responded, “Terry Sweeney, he was very funny, this guy. I don’t think he’s alive anymore.”
