Chevy Chase’s family is ready to peel back the curtain and share a glimpse into the comedian’s drug abuse.
In the new CNN documentary I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, several relatives speak candidly about the actor’s struggles with cocaine and alcohol.
According to Chevy’s wife, Jayni Chase, an ENT doctor called her one day and asked her to come in.
“He explained to me that Chevy was addicted to cocaine,” she recalled in the documentary via People.
Jayni, 68, set up an intervention with her husband, where he admitted to having a drug problem. The former Saturday Night Live star went to the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California, to get help, but only stayed for a week.
According to the documentary, Chevy, 82, would occasionally have relapses, but stayed clean for the most part.
Before receiving treatment, Chevy’s brother, Ned Chase, recalled a night out in Los Angeles where drugs were present.
“There were about six to eight of us around the table, and the only person I knew was Chevy,” he recalled in the documentary. “But in the center of the table, there was, like, a lazy susan, and there was kind of a pyramid. That pyramid was cocaine.”
According to CNN, I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not charts Chevy’s rise from breakout Saturday Night Live phenomenon to box-office royalty. At the same time, the project examines “the complexities and challenges that have shaped his legacy.”
During the documentary, the focus briefly turns to Chevy’s experience on the NBC comedy series Community.
At one point in the show’s five seasons, Jayni — who met Chevy on the 1981 film Under the Rainbow when she was a production coordinator — questioned if her husband was drinking on set.
“I realized he was getting a six-pack of organic red wine, and after about four days, it was gone,” she said. “I pointed it out to Chevy, probably five different times, and he would roll it back. And then he didn’t like me pointing it out to him because the beast of addiction starts taking over.”
Although Jayni described her husband as “functional,” she still questioned his drinking habits.
“I didn’t realize it right away. Caley [one of their three daughters] did,” Jayni said. “She finally said, ‘Mom, I think he’s drinking on set.'”
The NBC sitcom, which followed the antics of a community college study group, premiered in 2009 and was canceled after five seasons. Chevy played Pierce Hawthorne and left the series in 2012 after using the N-word on the set.
Featuring rare home movies, decades of archival footage and new interviews with family and friends, I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not is described by CNN as “a raw and riveting look at fame, fallout and the fine line between genius and self-destruction.”
Fans can watch it for themselves when I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not premieres Thursday, January 1, at 8 p.m. ET on CNN.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
