Now 75, Sweeney is reacting to a moment revisited in I’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not, a new documentary about Chase set to premiere January 1. The film looks back at Chase’s career highs and controversies, including an incident in which Chase allegedly suggested an SNL sketch mocking the AIDS epidemic — with Sweeney as the target.
According to the documentary, director Marina Zenovich reminds Chase of a joke he once proposed involving Sweeney being weighed weekly to see if he had AIDS. At the time, the epidemic was already devastating gay communities, making the remark especially cruel.
Sweeney, who was not only the only openly gay cast member but also the only out gay actor on network television then, says the joke cut deeply. He was already feeling isolated inside the show.
Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels is also featured in the film, explaining that Chase often said shocking things in the name of comedy, assuming everyone around him would take it as a joke. But context mattered — and for Sweeney, the line had clearly been crossed.
Chase’s response in the documentary has only made things worse. At one point, he claims he thought Sweeney was no longer alive. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Sweeney fired back bluntly, calling Chase’s comments self-serving and insulting.
The film also revisits Chase’s troubled relationships with other colleagues, including his time on Community. Former co-star Yvette Nicole Brown has publicly distanced herself from the documentary and rejected any attempts to reframe Chase’s exit from the show amid accusations of using racial slurs.
To challenge Chase’s version of events, Zenovich reads from Live From New York, the well-known oral history of SNL by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller. In the book, Sweeney recalls that Chase did apologize for the AIDS joke — but angrily, resenting that he had to do so.
Chase flatly denies that account in the film, saying Sweeney is lying and insisting that behavior like that is “not who I am.” Sweeney, however, isn’t buying it.
“It all reflects rightly horribly on him,” Sweeney says.
The documentary also explores Chase’s troubled childhood, suggesting that abuse by his parents may help explain his abrasive behavior. Sweeney has little sympathy for that argument.
“Boohoo,” he says, dismissing the explanation outright.
Decades after the incident, Sweeney’s message is clear: some jokes aren’t comedy, and some apologies come far too late.
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