‘Community’s’ Dan Harmon Apologizes for Publicly Playing Chevy Chase’s Angry Voicemail

Community creator Dan Harmon’s feud with his clearly disgruntled star, Chevy Chase, isn’t generating the kind of headlines the boss prefers for the NBC comedy. He says as much in a mea culpa posted to his personal blog, Dan Harmon Poops.

VIDEO: ‘Community’ Spring Trailer — The Chang Wars

“I’m really not supposed to be commenting on the situation,” Harmon writes. “Which I think is great advice, because anything I say will extend the story’s life and cause more fans discomfort. But as a guy who blogs or tweets every time he wipes his butt, hugs his cat or hurts his girlfriend, it’s conspicuously weird of me to say nothing at all about the giant fart with my name on it that you’ve been inhaling.”

He’s referring to the big stink created when a recording hit the web, which reveals Harmon sharing an angry curse-laden voicemail from Chase at his monthly comedy event in L.A., “Harmontown.”

VIDEO: Community’s First Animated Short: ‘Abed’s Master Key’ Part 1

In the post, Harmon specifically says he wants to apologize to the show’s fans for creating the controversial situation, saying he’d rather express himself via Community’s episodes “Thursdays at 8 on TV. Those are the stories and the jokes and observations about life and personal confessions that I intend for that large a venue.” But, he says that he made the mistake of airing his show-related dirty laundry at “Harmontown.”

“It was in that venue, months ago, that I made the horrible, childish, self-obsessed, unaware, naive and unprofessional decision to play someone’s voicemail to me,” he says. “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.”

PHOTOS: Hollywood’s Memorable Mea Culpas

Harmon ends with saying that while this controversy is selling ad spots for the show, it gives him no comfort when Community’s fans are in distress.

In the voicemail, Chase expresses his anger over Harmon telling the crew to say a group “f—k you” to the star at the show’s wrap party with his family present.

News of the publicly shared voicemail gave way to various details of Chase’s displeasure with the show’s writing and an alleged tantrum on-set, leading to him walking off before finishing his scenes on the last day of season three shooting.

Email: Jethro.Nededog@thr.com; Twitter: @TheRealJethro