Feud of the Day! Chevy Chase vs. Community Creator Dan Harmon

It's every man for himself on the hit NBC show as funnyman goes off on his boss, who publicly embarrassed him

By Josh Grossberg Apr 02, 2012 6:16 PMTags
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If you ask Chevy Chase, there's not much solidarity right now in Community.

The comic veteran let loose an expletive-filled voice mail to Dan Harmon, the creator of his hit NBC comedy, which has since leaked to the Internet.

The rant was in retaliation for the producer purportedly insulting Chase at Community's wrap party—this after the Saturday Night Live alum walked off the set during filming of a key scene in the season finale.

Confused yet? Here's a timeline on how the bad blood got started.

Word of a feud first surfaced on Reddit in a forum for fans revealing that Harmon publicly called out Chase with a "f--k you" speech in front of his wife and daughter for storming off before the production could finish up the third season's final episode.

Per Deadline, Chase left the bash as soon as the Community mastermind went off on him and subsequently left Harmon a scathing, profanity-filled phone message in which he blasted him for the ugly scolding and explained that he bailed on filming because of Harmon's failure to supply a script.

"You didn't give us a script to begin with so nobody knew what the f--k was going on," railed the thesp. "I don't get talked to like that by anybody, certainly not in front of my wife and daughter."

Chevy, who plays moist towelette tycoon Pierce Hawthorne on the show about students at Colorado's fictional Greendale Community College, then suggested Harmon play the voice mail for anyone who agrees that what the producer did was good form.  Alas, Harmon did just that and the tirade found its way to the Web.

MORE: Community Shelved by NBC Starting Midseason

He also addressed, if obliquely, the bad blood between them on his Twitter page.

In response to one follower who wrote, "Nothing warrants what you did to Chevy in front of his wife and daughter. Chevy may be a d--k, but you're no better," Harmon tweeted: "Very brave and sensitive of you! Absolutely ingenious topic to pretend to know anything about with just the right audience."

Chevy, however, isn't the only Community member who has a beef with the boss, according to a show insider, who claims that actors didn't receive scripts in a timely manner.

The insider notes that Chevy hasn't exactly been a sweetheart on set, leading to inevitable friction between the two.

"Chevy doesn't remember his lines, so we have to make cue cards for him to read. Also if things aren't going well because the script is changing so constantly, Chevy gets mad and wants to go home—and does go home," reveals the source.

Chase's diva antics and constant demands for more lines have also made it harder for the crew and nearly led to a physical confrontation between the actor and his showrunner.

"Basically, you're balancing two prickly people," adds the insider.

Reps for the funnyman, Harmon and NBC were unavailable for comment.

When asked about his future on Community recently, Chase—whose reputation for being difficult on set dates back to his SNL days and who once feuded with shock jock Howard Stern—told the Huffington Post, "I probably won't be around that much longer."

Reps for the show have not responded to requests for comment.

(E! Online and Community are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)