Lorne Michaels Reveals Key Detail of Chevy Chase, Bill Murray Fight Mystery

Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels recently spoke out on the legendary 1978 fight between comedy titans Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, and took some responsibility for it.

He recounted his versions of the event while speaking to former cast members Dana Carvey and David Spade on their Fly on the Wall podcast. Each week, the pair get former cast, guests, writers and hosts onto their podcast to discuss SNL.

In the second of a two-part episode, the man who started the show, Michaels was asked about the story involving a fight between Murray and Chase.

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"Did Bill Murray punch Chevy or is that a fake story from the old days?" Spade asked.

"They got into a fight," Michaels confirmed. "And John [Belushi] provoked it a little bit.

"It was probably my mistake because I was bringing Chevy back to host but it was just a season and a half after he left, but it just made sense," Michaels said, taking some accountability for their confrontation.

"They got into a skirmish in front of the page desk, and then Chevy had to go out and do the monologue."

Michaels also confirmed that there were some residual tensions between Belushi and Chase back from their time together on the stage show National Lampoon: Lemmings, co-starring Christopher Guest.

In Michaels' opinion, Chase wasn't ready to leave Saturday Night Live after one season, but left after scoring a three-picture deal at Universal. Murray joined the cast of SNL for the second season.

Murray and Chase patched things up not long after, famously sharing a scene together in the film Caddyshack in 1980.

Chase discussed the incident on The Howard Stern Show in 2008, detailing the event from his point of view. Chase mentioned how Belushi had said things to Murray about Chase that he'd done on the show "that simply weren't true."

"He'd already worked Bill up a little bit, and I went in, I was probably a little bit full of myself after a year of fame or whatever. I think that Billy probably wanted to knock me down a couple of rungs, and I think he wanted to take me on." Chase said. "Words were said, basically just before the show, and he got me really p*****.

"I finally went to his dressing room just before the show and said, 'you say something like that again, I'm gonna' you know, whatever." Chase said he noticed at that moment how Belushi had been orchestrating their feud.

"Billy jumped up from this couch and charged me at the door, and I immediately got into a fight stance," Chase said. "I was ready to level him and he was ready to scratch me up. At the same time, John rushed to the door. As I remember I might have thrown a glancing punch to his forehead and Billy might have hit him in the back of the head."

Chase confirmed that over the years he and Murray have remained friendly, and have even played golf together.

Spade and Carvey confirmed that they would be having Chase on their Fly on the Wall podcast, which will give him a chance to reflect on his time on Saturday Night Live.