Terry Sweeney, the first openly gay male cast member on Saturday Night Live, has launched a scathing attack on comedy veteran Chevy Chase, branding him an "a**" over an offensive AIDS-related sketch Chase suggested during the 1980s.
Offensive joke resurfaces in new documentary
The painful episode was brought back into the spotlight by the new CNN documentary I'm Chevy Chase And You're Not, which premieres on 1 January. During filming, director Marina Zenovich confronted Chase, now 82, with the incident, reading from an oral history of SNL.
She reminded him that during the mid-1980s, after he returned to host the show, he pitched a cruel idea to Sweeney. "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,'" Zenovich stated.
Sweeney's fury and Chase's feeble defence
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday, Sweeney, 75, expressed his astonishment and anger at Chase's continued behaviour. In instant messages, he wrote: "Don’t you think he is saying this and making himself look more like the a** he is!!! It all reflects rightly horribly on him!"
In the documentary, Chase responded to the reminder with an awkward laugh, admitting, "That's the worst." He then incorrectly speculated that Sweeney might be dead, adding, "I don’t think he’s alive anymore... Because I don't want you talking to him about this."
SNL creator Lorne Michaels offered a weak defence of Chase's conduct, suggesting it was just his abrasive comedic style. "I think Chevy was just being Chevy. He would say things that were funny, and he would assume you were comedy people, and he could speak that way," Michaels said.
A history of monstrous behaviour on set
Sweeney's grievances extend far beyond the single AIDS joke. In the 2015 book Live From New York, he labelled Chase a "monster" who "insulted everybody" during his hosting stint. He recounted a forced apology in his dressing room, where Chase appeared "furious" to be making amends.
More shockingly, Sweeney alleged that Chase asked him to lick his testicles during that same week. Chase has vehemently denied all these claims, insisting, "None of that's true... He’s not telling the truth."
However, Chase admits in the documentary to suffering significant memory loss following a major health crisis in 2021, where he was in an eight-day coma due to heart failure. "It affects your memory," he conceded. Director Zenovich suggested this may explain his denials: "Especially those things you don't want to remember."
The documentary also explores Chase's difficult childhood, marked by parental abuse, as a potential reason for his turbulent relationships. Sweeney was unmoved by this explanation, responding sarcastically: "Boohoo … poor screwed up kid … so THAT’s why he’s so rotten!!!!!!!"
Sweeney's time on SNL in the 1985–86 season was groundbreaking but fraught. While his casting was historic, he was often relegated to sketches relying on gay stereotypes or drag performances, typically aired in the show's less desirable later slots.
The Daily Mail has approached both Chase and Sweeney for further comment but has not yet received a response.
