- - Chevy Chase texted Lorne Michaels over hurtful ‘SNL’ 50th snub

Erin Jensen, USA TODAYDecember 22, 2025 at 8:00 AM

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Chevy Chase, a member of the inaugural “Saturday Night Live” cast in 1975, attended February’s 50th anniversary festivities, but did not appear in skits, like other former stars.

The first anchor and a co-creator of the satirical news segment Weekend Update starred in the first season alongside Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and Gilda Radner. And in CNN’s upcoming documentary, the 82-year-old reveals that not being featured hurt his feelings.

Chase’s wife Jayni, whom he wed in 1982, says in “I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not” (premiering New Year’s Day, 8 ET/PT) that up until the day the special aired on Feb. 16, 2025, Chase was told “there were two bits,” he might be a part of. “They were going back and forth. And then all of a sudden, ‘No. There’s no bit.’”

“There were a couple of versions of Update,” “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels confirms in the documentary, “and we went back and forth on that. There was also a caution from somebody that I don’t want to name that Chevy wasn’t as focused.”

Martin Short, a cast member from 1984-85 who starred with Chase in the 1986 comedy “Three Amigos!” defended NBC’s long-running sketch show. “There’s 50 years of casts,” says Short, 75, in the film. “Billy Crystal – no bigger star than Billy – he didn’t say a word that night. It’s just too many people to fill.”But Chase’s middle daughter Caley disagrees.

“He should have opened the show with ‘It’s Saturday night,’” she suggests. “That’s it. They didn’t even need to use him more. But, c’mon guys! That was it!” That honor went to Paul Simon and Sabrina Carpenter, who opened “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” with the 1966 Simon & Garfunkel hit “Homeward Bound.”

“It was kind of upsetting, actually,” Chase admits. “And this will probably be the first time I’m saying it. But I expected that I would’ve been on the stage too with all of the other actors. When (former castmates) 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 [onstage]?” Chase continues. “Why was I not? I don’t have an answer for that. I did bring it up once in a text to Lorne and then took it back. I said, ‘OK, I take it back. It’s 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.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chevy Chase recalls hurtful ‘SNL’ 50th snub, text to Lorne Michaels

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