Chevy Chase made a high-profile return to Saturday Night Live on February 16, 2025, attending the show’s 50th Anniversary Special at Rockefeller Center in New York. The 81-year-old actor, an original cast member from 1975 to 1976, walked the red carpet alongside his wife, Jayni Chase, before joining the three-hour special at Studio 8H.
Though Chase made an appearance for the milestone event, his history with SNL has been marked by public criticism and feuds with cast members. In 2024, director Jason Reitman recalled Chase’s blunt response to his film Saturday Night, which depicted the lead-up to SNL’s first broadcast. Reitman recounted Chase telling him, "Well, you should be embarrassed," after watching the film.
Backstage tensions with fellow SNL cast members have followed Chase throughout his career. One of the most infamous incidents came in 1978, when he and Bill Murray nearly got into a physical fight over personal insults. John Belushi intervened before any punches were thrown, Chase later revealed in a 2010 Esquire interview.
During the SNL50 special, Bill Murray referenced Chase in a Weekend Update segment with Colin Jost, ranking him fourth among past hosts while acknowledging his role in shaping the format. The event also featured an all-star lineup of SNL veterans, including Amy Poehler, Eddie Murphy, Kristen Wiig, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Maya Rudolph, and Tina Fey.
Chase’s return comes despite his long history of criticizing SNL, including a 2018 interview where he slammed the modern show as "the worst humor in the world." His controversies extend beyond SNL, as he was fired from Community in 2013 following allegations of racist remarks directed at co-star Donald Glover.
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