Community's Dan Harmon has apologised for the furore created by comments he made about Chevy Chase.
The NBC comedy's creator claimed that Chase was drunk when he left an offensive voicemail message on Harmon's phone, playing the message to a crowd at monthly comedy event Harmontown in Los Angeles.
> 'Community' - Dan Harmon Q&A: 'Our fans influence the show'
Harmon wrote on his blog that he regrets his actions, saying: "It was [at Harmontown], months ago, that I made the horrible, childish, self-obsessed, unaware, naïve and unprofessional decision to play someone's voicemail to me. He didn't intend for 150 people to listen and giggle at it, and I didn't intend for millions of people to read angry reports about it.
"I was doing what I always do, and always get in trouble for doing, and always pay a steep price for doing. I was thinking about myself and I was thinking about making people laugh. I was airing my dirty laundry for a chuckle. I ask people at those shows repeatedly to please think twice about YouTubing clips of it because it doesn't play well outside the back of a comic book store."
Harmon continued: "I always accept the risk that a well-intending fan will upload clips and something scandalous will break wide, but the giant mistake I made was involving someone else in that game of Russian roulette, someone that didn't have an opportunity to say, 'Yeah, hilarious, let's do this'.
What to Read Next
"That was a dumb, unclassy, inconsiderate move on my part. I'm very sorry it's reflecting poorly on the show."
Harmon added that he was not trying to excuse his behaviour, writing: "It's important to me that you not mistake this for someone thinking they're making it better, or explaining that they're actually a swell person. I'm explaining that you're right, I'm a bonehead, and it sucks, it blows up in my face on a regular basis.
"I put an unhealthy amount of stock in the opinions of strangers, that's exactly what makes me do stupid things, and, poetically, that's what makes the punishment so effective... So, when you see me not talking about this, it's not because I'm trying to get away with something, it's because the more I say, the worse it gets.
"This is a topic that is driving ad sale revenue for a week but causing my favorite people in the world - Community fans - distress. So my desire, like yours, is to wait for it to pass."
Kate (they/she) is a freelance writer, editor, digital editorial trainer and data technician who first joined Digital Spy as an overnight freelance sub-editor in January 2011, after studying a postgraduate diploma in journalism at Salford University while working part-time as a social researcher.
In July 2013, Kate joined the DS staff team as chief sub-editor and following six years as the site's managing editor, their role expanded to incorporate Hearst UK's entertainment portfolio (including Digital Spy and its sibling titles Best and Inside Soap) between late 2024 and early 2026.
Kate has worked as a writer and editor since 2006, with bylines syndicated across the Hearst network and at organisations including Metro. They started their career as a TV production runner for the BBC and contributed to various music websites, blogs and zines while based in Manchester.
During her time at DS, Kate has previously been a freelance sub-editor and chief sub-editor.
Kate's team at Digital Spy were proudly nominated in the Best Subbing/Production Team category at the BSME Talent Awards 2022. Over the years, she has contributed to coverage of many, many Prime Days and Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and was part of the team that launched the DS weekly TV newsletter in November 2019 – followed by the Top of the Shops e-commerce newsletter in May 2024.
Kate's screen passions include Taskmaster (their biggest career regret remains turning down the opportunity to visit the house), nature documentaries, and live sport (up there with the greatest of all soap operas although if asked to choose, it's Corrie… every time).
Her highlights while working at DS have included interviewing Stevie Nicks on the red carpet for her documentary In Your Dreams, sitting at a press roundtable with Formula 1 commentary icon Murray Walker, watching a life-sized LEGO car being driven around Silverstone, writing an album-by-album retrospective of Lady Gaga's genre-defying career for Living Legends, and raising awareness of receiving and understanding a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis through the lens of Bianca and Freddie's EastEnders storyline.
Upon remembering to log off the internet, Kate enjoys live theatre, dance and comedy, appreciating nature, baking (badly), tending a recently-rented allotment (equally badly) and pampering one very spoiled rescue cat named Jolene.
LinkedIn
