Despite hearing that cast members of TV's Community lauded Childish Gambino's talents, there seems to be another account by which to build our perception of the Community era. Rather a story being framed as a talented person persisting through adversity starts to emerge. As the record states, courtesy of a New Yorker exposé, Chevy Chase a then member of the cast, used racial cracks to engender passion out of a young Donald Glover.
Chevy Chase is a known industry bully. His on set antics are a thing of legend, especially during the initial run of Saturday Night Live where he supposedly walked off set indefinitely as a negotiation tactic, ostracizing himself from the rest of the cast in the process.
Chevy's use of racial taunts as a ruse is inexcusable no matter the circumstances. The New Yorker article goes into detail regarding the moments in between takes where Chevy would make these racial cracks sometimes out of spite or jealousy. Glover had this to say on the impression he left upon the cast:
“I just saw Chevy as fighting time—a true artist has to be O.K. with his reign being over. I can’t help him if he’s thrashing in the water. But I know there’s a human in there somewhere—he’s almost too human.”
Peep the rest of the exposé, for more insight onto Glover and his creative endeavours.