Comedian Chevy Chase recently said that a remark he made several decades ago about actor Cary Grant's sexuality was "one of the stupidest things I've ever said."
Sitting down with Bill Maher for an episode of Maher's "Club Random" podcast last Sunday, Chase recalled being a guest on Tom Snyder's NBC talk show Tomorrow in 1980.
"[Tom] said, 'People say you're going to be the next Cary Grant,' and I said, 'That's crazy, there's nobody like Cary Grant and there will never be another Cary Grant and I understand he was a homo,'" Chase recalled to Maher.
In that 1980 appearance, Chase had followed up with, "He was brilliant. What a gal!" in reference to Grant.
The day after Chase's NBC talk show appearance, Grant filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit against the comedian for his comments. The case was reportedly settled in court and, though neither actor commented on the settlement, it is reported Chase paid $1 million in damages.
On the Sunday episode of "Club Random," Chase added: "By the way, I don't think Cary was gay. Do you think he was?"
Maher then responded, "Cary Grant, I think was half of....I'm going to say this, I think at one time in his life had a d**k in his a**. That's conjecture, but he's just too good looking not to, that's my theory."
The comedian also discussed working with actor Burt Reynolds in The Last Movie Star, Reynolds' final film before he died in 2018. Maher said that Reynolds and Chase both shared a quality about them that he sees in actors like Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Gosling and Cary Grant; he said they are all "the good-looking guy, but you act like the guy who's not the good-looking guy, that's like now you've got them coming and going. Warren Beatty did it."
The discussion then turned to Saturday Night Live when Chase recalled comedian John Belushi's drug problem on set.
"I'm just remembering John and his drug problem, but back then, the big drug was cocaine," said Chase. "Obviously, John turned out to be [a] coke head, but I had a little jar of cocaine with a little spoon that hung from it. Anyway, I had it on the piano of the stage. So I'm just playing the piano, the crowd isn't in yet, and it's just sitting. After I played just a little bit, it's gone. I had no idea how. Obviously I was looking at my hands at the moment that John swooped in and took it. So I immediately said, 'Belushi, did you take my coke?' 'No, what are you talking about?'"
Chase said that a month later, he found his empty vial at Belushi's house when he was over for dinner. In 1982, Belushi died of combined drug intoxication, a mixture of both heroin and cocaine.
Newsweek reached out to a representative for Chase for additional comment.
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Emma Mayer is a Newsweek Culture Writer based in Wyoming. Her focus is reporting on celebrities, books, movies, and music. ... Read more
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