Dave Chappelle has been back to touring the stand-up circuit for more than three years now but will be returning to television with two of the three specials he signed on with Netflix to deliver for a whopping $60 million, on Tuesday. It will be the second time Chappelle graces TV land since his 2004 stand-up special, "Dave Chappelle: For What It's Worth," after he returned to the tube for the first time in 12 years to host the post-presidential election Saturday Night Live episode, back in November.
In an effort to promote the pair of exclusive gigs, Chappelle sat down with CBS This Morning host Gayle King on Monday, March 20, for an interview during which they discussed his classic SNL slot, as well as some comments she confronted him about having made concerning a couple of current Comedy Central actors who've been busy filling the void he left in his absence.
Chappelle made headlines back in October when during his emceeing duties at the Roots Picnic music festival in Bryant Park, New York City, he took a jab at Key & Peele actors Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. "Put some respect on my name. You guys don't know what I've been through. Watching Key and Peele do my show for the last five f***ing years," Dave said to chuckles from the crowd. King made reference to the joke on Monday, and he obliged in addressing the remarks, stating that he is a fan of the show. But Dave followed up the affirmation by inferring that it is because of his having broken the mold, regarding what is possible for mainstream sketch comedy, that fans of the show are crediting it with what he feels was his innovation.
“I fought the network very hard so that those conventions could come to fruition. So, like the first episode I do, that black, white supremacist sketch. And it’s like, ‘Well, that’s 10 minutes long. It should be five minutes long.’ Why should it be five minutes long? Like, these types of conventions. I fought very hard," said Dave. "So when I watch Key & Peele and I see they’re doing a format that I created, and at the end of the show, it says, ‘Created by Key & Peele,’ that hurts my feelings."
Fans will forever recall how after three ground breaking seasons, Chappelle suddenly abandoned his show, and the Comedy Central network altogether, after being offered what at the time was an unprecedented $50 million extension. Chappelle would return from his bizarre hiatus with an attempt to explain his leave during a classic interview with Gayle's long time friend, Oprah Winfrey. "I wasn't crazy, but it is incredibly stressful," Chappelle told Oprah, dispelling rumors that ranged from him being heavily into drugs, to his having had a mental breakdown. "I felt in a lot of instances I was deliberately being put through stress because when you're a guy who generates money, people have a vested interested in controlling you."
Source: usatoday.com
