Chappelle Says He's Glad He Left TV Show

[Codeine]

Comedian Dave Chappelle promotes the release of his new DVD "Dave Chappelle's Block Party," at the Virgin Megastore in Los Angeles, on June 13, 2006. On Aug. 29, 2006, Chappelle told an audience at Ohio's Central State University that leaving his TV show was "one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life." (AP Photo/Stefano Paltera)



Chappelle Says He's Glad He Left TV Show
Wednesday, August 30, 2006 3:57 PM EDT
The Associated Press


WILBERFORCE, Ohio (AP) — Dave Chappelle doesn't regret his decision to walk away from a $50 million deal to continue his hit Comedy Central television show. However, he might miss the money.

Halting his "Chappelle's Show" two years ago was "one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life," the comedian said Tuesday while addressing the opening convocation at Central State University.

"Now, economically it makes no sense at all," he added.

Chappelle, who lives near the southwest Ohio village of Yellow Springs, encouraged students not to compromise their values.

"It's good to have a vision for your life, but your moral conduct and your moral code should be priceless," he said. "You should just have some values that you just hold, that you won't sell at any price."

Central State's marching band played before Chappelle's hour-plus talk. The band was featured in the recent documentary "Dave Chappelle's Block Party."

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On the Net:

www.davechappelle.com/

www.centralstate.edu/

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[Sr. Chingon]

hmmm interesting

 

[MuneyHongry650]

This pretty much explains it all... thank god for wikipedia..makes life so much simpler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Chappelle#Fledgling_career


The comedian stunned fans and the entertainment industry when he abruptly left during production of the third season of Chappelle's Show. Chappelle has since stated that he was unhappy with the direction the show had taken, claiming pressure from network executives regarding the show's content. Chappelle left the United States to visit South Africa. His decision triggered reports of mental or drug problems with the actor, which Chappelle later denied. On May 11, 2005, news sources reported that Chappelle had checked himself into a psychiatric facility in South Africa, which Chappelle has since repeatedly denied. On May 14, 2005, Time Magazine announced that one of their reporters had interviewed Chappelle in South Africa, and the comedian said no psychiatric treatments were occurring or necessary. Chappelle has stated his reasons for visiting South Africa were to reflect on his life and career.

On August 3, 2005, co-star Charlie Murphy gave an interview to TV Guide stating that he believed that Dave Chappelle was finished with Chappelle's Show and would not be returning.

By late 2005, Chappelle had returned to his 65-acre farm near Yellow Springs and was performing impromptu shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Newport, Kentucky.

Chappelle was interviewed for Inside the Actors Studio on December 18, 2005, at Pace University's Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts. The show premiered on February 12, 2006. Chappelle stated that the death of his father had an impact in his decision to go to South Africa to get away from the stress of stardom, stating that he had not received a chance to mourn his father's death. He also said the rumors that he was in drug or psychiatric treatment only persuaded him to stay in South Africa.

He was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on her show on February 3, 2006 in his first televised interview since his departure from Chappelle's Show. He stated in the interview that he "wasn't crazy" but the environment was "incredibly stressful". He continued:

Dave Chappelle
I would go to work on the show and I felt awful every day, that's not the way it was. ... I felt like some kind of prostitute or something. If I feel so bad, why keep on showing up to this place? I'm going to Africa. The hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching.

Dave Chappelle

Chappelle also admitted to Oprah that he felt some of his sketches were socially irresponsible. He singled out the "pixie sketch" (in which it implied everyone has a pixie that appears to them and encourages them to act in a way stereotypical for their race) and said during the filming of the blackface pixie sketch a white crew member was laughing. Chappelle said "it was the first time I felt that someone was not laughing with me but laughing at me."[2][3]

During these interviews, Chappelle did not rule out returning to Chappelle's Show to "finish what we started", but promised that he would not return without changes to the production, such as a better working environment. He also stated he would like to donate half of the DVD sales to charity, and to people that supported him. Chappelle expressed disdain at the possibility of his material from the unfinished third season being aired, saying that to do so would be "a bully move", and that he would not return to the show if Comedy Central were to air the unfinished material. On July 9, 2006, Comedy Central aired the first episode of Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes. An uncensored DVD release of the episodes was made available on July 25, 2006.

According to IMDB, Dave is set to star in a sports comedy film, Ballers in 2007.

 

[gabe559]

man i miss the damn show