For Variety, Carpenter wouldn’t give Chase’s name directly, but it was pretty clear who he was talking about. He said: 

“[‘Memoirs’] gave me a chance to make a quasi-serious movie. But Chevy Chase, Sam Neill — who I love and had a longtime friendship with — and Warner Bros. … I worked for them, and it was pleasant … No, it wasn’t pleasant at all. I’m lying to you. It was a horror show. I really wanted to quit the business after that movie. God, I don’t want to talk about why, but let’s just say there were personalities on that film — he shall not be named — who needs to be killed. No, no, no, that’s terrible. He needs to be set on fire. No, no, no. Anyway, it’s all fine. I survived it.” 

After “Memoirs,” Carpenter would reteam with Sam Neill to make “In the Mouth of Madness,” a brilliant, psychedelic horror movie about a Stephen King-like author and a book that is driving the world insane with fear, so the director got back on his feet somewhat quickly, but golly it sounds like “Memoirs” was a bad time for him. 

The story goes that Chase was “impossible to direct” and that he and Hannah were “the stuff of nightmares,” although I haven’t been able to locate a source on that beyond unsubstantiated references on websites like TV Tropes. It’s easy to believe that Chase was difficult to work with, though, given reports of his caustic, mean, sarcastic behavior on set. He hasn’t committed any crimes, but he has garnered a reputation for storming off sets in a rage and generally saying broadly offensive things.