Even as a young man, Chevy Chase was allegedly difficult to work with, and that seemed to be the case in the early days of “Saturday Night Live”; when he left in late 1976, there were few tears shed over his departure. Despite that, he returned to the late-night show for a guest-hosting spot in 1978, and had a notable incident with his replacement, Bill Murray, who was a newcomer to “SNL” but nonetheless familiar with Chase due to their time working together on “The National Lampoon Radio Hour.”
According to Decider, Chase took exception to Murray telling him that everyone on “SNL” hated him, and things quickly heated up between the two comics, who shouted cruel jokes and personal insults at each other until Chase challenged Murray to a fight right before the show was about to go on air. The men exchanged punches until John Belushi stepped in and broke it up, and the episode went on air as scheduled, with Chase doing his opening monologue as if he wasn’t brawling with the guy who replaced him just minutes prior.
Chase would go on to guest-host “Saturday Night Live” several more times in the following years, and in 1985, he got into another incident of sorts with cast member Terry Sweeney, who is openly gay (via Rolling Stone). As Chase allegedly bullied Sweeney by making a series of homophobic comments against him, he would later refer to Chase as a “monster.”
