Chevy Chase Documentary Reveals The Truth Behind Addiction And Family Intervention

Chevy Chasehas spent decades carrying the label of being one of Hollywood's most difficult personalities, and now that reputation is being revisited. In the new Hulu documentary "I'm Chevy Chase And You're Not," the legendary comedian's third wife, Jayni Chase, opens up about the intervention that rocked their family, the addictions that fueled years of explosive behavior, and the childhood trauma she says shaped the man behind the controversies. At 82, Chase, best known as Clark Griswold in the "National Lampoon" films and as one of the original "Saturday Night Live" stars, is confronting decades of public backlash, strained relationships, and personal demons that pushed him from Hollywood favorite to industry outcast by the mid-1980s.

Jayni, who married Chevy in 1982, doesn't shy away from the criticisms, but she doesn't accept them either. "If Chevy says something and you're offended, it's a little more on you than him," she said in the documentary.

Describing her husband as a risk-taker rather than a villain, Jayni suggested that much of his infamous bluntness has been misunderstood. "You can't get where he got without being a risk-taker," she explained. "So dial it back and get a sense of humor. He's not an a-shole, and neither are you."

According to Jayni, Chevy's behavior didn't come out of nowhere. It began long before fame. She recounts a chilling moment early in their relationship when she tried to wake him up. "The first time we stayed together, the first time I went to wake him up, he shuddered," she recalled.

Chase explained that his mother used to wake him by slapping him, admitting, "From the time he was a little guy: Wham!"

The film also details abuse from his stepfather, John Cederquist, who Chevy says would force him into the basement as punishment and beat him while eating breakfast.

Jayni admits she didn't initially grasp the severity of Chevy's struggles with cocaine and alcohol until the signs became impossible to ignore. "I realized he was getting a six-pack of organic red wine, and after about four days, it was gone," she said.

When she raised concerns, Chevy resisted. "I pointed it out to Chevy probably five different times, and he would roll it back. And then he didn't like me pointing it out to him because the beast of addiction starts taking over."

Jayni is clear, however, that the man viewers see in the documentary is not the same person he was decades ago. "People grow," she said. "No one is the same person they were 30 years ago."

Jayni also opened up about the moment things reached a breaking point behind the scenes. At 68, she revealed that she ultimately organized an intervention for her husband, confronting him directly about his substance abuse.

During the intervention, Chevy admitted he had a drug problem and agreed to seek help. The former "Saturday Night Live" star entered the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California, though his stay was brief. According to the documentary, Chase left the facility after just one week.

Chevy's brother, Ned Chase, also appears in the documentary and recalls a moment that showed just how normalized drug use had become during that era. Describing a night out in Los Angeles, he said the scene was unforgettable. "There were about six to eight of us around the table, and the only person I knew was Chevy," Ned recalled. "But in the center of the table, there was, like, a lazy Susan, and there was kind of a pyramid. That pyramid was cocaine."

Ned's story paints a sobering picture of the environment surrounding Chase during his rise to fame, one that many fans were not aware of.

In 1986, Chase checked into the Betty Ford Center to seek treatment for a dependency on prescription painkillers. According to PEOPLE, at the time, his then-agent Pat Kingsley told The New York Times that the actor had developed an addiction tied to chronic and long-term back problems, a condition that led to heavy reliance on prescribed medication.

Nearly three decades later, Chase returned to treatment, this time for alcohol use. In 2016, he entered the Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center in Minnesota. His publicist, Heidi Schaeffer, described the move to CBS News as a proactive step, calling it a "tune-up" in Chase's ongoing recovery.

"I'm Chevy Chase And You're Not" is now streaming on Hulu.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).