Comedian Joel McHale issued a response to some critical remarks his former “Community” co-star Chevy Chase made during a podcast interview last month.
“[Chase] stopped hurting my feelings in 2009,” McHale, 51, joked when asked about it by People.
The 80-year-old actor made waves after appearing on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast in September and making critical remarks about his time on the NBC comedy “Community,” which he was part of from 2009 until 2012.
“I honestly felt the show wasn’t funny enough for me, ultimately. I felt a little bit constrained,” Chase told Maron. The “National Lampoon” actor was eventually written off the show during season 4. “Everybody had their bits, and I thought they were all good. It just wasn’t hard-hitting enough for me.”
Chase played Pierce Hawthorne, a millionaire attending community college with McHale and other castmates who were much younger than he was. His character died of dehydration while collecting sperm samples.
“I didn’t mind the character,” Chase said during the interview. “I just felt that it was … I felt happier being alone. I just didn’t want to be surrounded by that table, every day, with those people. It was too much.”
McHale told People of his former co-star’s comments, “I was like, ‘Hey, no one was keeping you there.’ I mean, we weren’t sentenced to that show. It was like, ‘All right, you could have left if you really wanted that.’ But yeah, you know Chevy. That’s Chevy being Chevy.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP
“I wrote about this in my book, but I was like, ‘Hey, the feeling’s mutual, bud,’” McHale said, referencing his 2016 memoir, “Thanks for the Money: How to Use My Life Story to Become the Best Joel McHale You Can Be.”
McHale also previously mentioned that Chase would likely not be part of the spinoff movie based on “Community.” He told Kelly Ripa during a podcast interview that it seemed unlikely that the “Vacation” star would join the former cast, and not just because of his character being killed off.
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” McHale told Ripa when she asked if Chase would be part of the reunion. “There weren’t any issues at all when we were making the show,” he continued sarcastically.
