David Spade explains why he didn’t attend Chris Farley’s funeral in 1997
David Spade may be a comedian, but there wasn't much to laugh about in his recent Ask Me Anything session on Reddit. The 49-year-old "Grown Ups 2" star was promoting his upcoming special on Comedy Central, but the Q&A took a somber turn when Spade was asked about his favourite memory of his friend and "Saturday Night Live" co-star Chris Farley, who died of a drug overdose in 1997 at the age of 33.
Asked about his favourite memory of Farley, Spade said,
"I think about him all the time." He then went on to explain why he chose not to attend Farley's funeral, which some saw as a sign of disrespect to his longtime friend and acting partner.
"We had such a good time for so long, and we were crammed together for so long, that we did have our squabbles," Spade admitted. "But I think people misunderstood me not going to that funeral. It was nothing about that; it was just too ... emotional, and I wouldn't be able to handle it."
The actor also shared two stories about Farley, one being an example of how his friend could make his friends laugh: "Me, him, and Adam Sandler were walking to dinner, during SNL, and this cute girl was getting in a cab, and we commented how pretty she was, so Chris ran over and climbed in the cab with her and said, 'Hey, you goin' downtown? Let's share a cab!' and she started yelling at him and kicking him," Spade said. "And he finally came back, and we said, 'Chris, if they don't know who you are, you are just a crazy fat guy trying to climb in a cab with them.' And then we all laughed. It was very funny to us."
Spade also told Reddit users how the now-classic "Fat Guy in a Little Coat" scene from "Tommy Boy" was born.
According to Spade, he would be writing sketches on "SNL" and Farley would interrupt him.
"[Farley] would say, 'Davey ... turn around,' and I said, 'If this is Fat Guy in a Little Coat, I'm not turning around. It's not funny anymore,'" Spade wrote. "And he would say, 'No, I've got a whole new thing I'm doing.' And then I'd turn around, and it would be him in my Levi jacket, and he would say, 'Fat guy in little coat! Don't you give up on it!'"
