It’s strange how many gifted comedians are manic depressives or have other mental health problems. Both Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers had periods like that - when they were filming Dr Strangelove, Sellers was apparently so depressed that he was like a zombie when he wasn’t performing on-camera.
The article went to pains to dispel rumors out that Chappelle doesn’t appear to have mental health problems or a drug addiction. He’s taking a break because he no longer trusts his inner circle’s advice on keeping his humor edgy.
and because he feels that his fame has affected how everyone around him acts…I can really see his reasoning actually!
I’d rather wait a year for new shows than to see Chappelle go all MC Hammer on us.
Well, whenever season three comes out, I’ll be right there.
50 million is a lot of money- how sucessful was he before? How about before his show, just as a comedian and actor? Anyone know? He claimed to be ‘rich’ in the sketch with the hospitalized kid and the video games… 
IMDb says he made about $1,000,000 for season 2. Plenty of money, but it doesn’t compare to $50,000,000 for two years and whatever else, plus the DVD sales and rise in profile…
When did you read that? 
Where on imdb does it show the salary of the person you’re looking up? What category?
Has anyone considered that maybe Dave was temp. possessed by Rick James’s spirit? Just an idea…
It’s in the “biography” subsection of the “biographical” section.
Ooh - thanks - I never knew that about IMDB - now I have even more ways to kill time! lol!
While we’re all happy, I’m sure, that Dave Chappelle hasn’t flipped his wig or gone into rehab, and we’re all looking forward to new, fresh, raw comedy from Mr. Chapelle at his best, does anyone here feel his unannounced disappearance is, well, not entirely the most ethical thing he could have done? Now that the news has sunk in a little, do y’all think this really was a very cool thing to do?
I mean, it appears that his response to getting a $50 million raise and some commensurate pressure was to freak out and flee, leaving both his employer and collaborators (at least one of them is publically none-too-pleased) pretty much in the lurch. If he had gone through a mental breakdown, or was trying to kick a destructive drug habit, I’m sure we’d all cut him miles of slack. But unless I’m seriously mistaken, all that’s happened here is he got wigged-out over his meteoric rise to stardom, and decided to drop off the North American map, surrupticiously enough that almost nobody, including most of his closest friends and associates, knew where the hell he was. If I were connected to Chappelle in that capacity, I would have panicked! I think then I would have had a conniption.
Don’t get me wrong: I’d much rather see a happy and funny Chappelle in two years than have a creatively taxed and burned-out Chappelle in one. If he needs the time off, I’ve no complaints about him taking it. But man, the disappearing act seems like a rather clumsy and negligent way to go about getting whatever it was he was missing (his employers insist he had “complete creative freedom”, so there seems to be some discrepancy between Chapelle’s and CC’s assessment of his purported dilemma).
Oh well, if we’re lucky, we’ll get some fresh new Chappelle before two seasons are over, and whatever feathers got ruffled over this episode will be smoothed out completely when he returns.
There are reasons that people sign contracts. The biggest reason is to allow for efficient breach. That’s right, implicit in the concept of a contract is breach of contract. The remedies provided for are intended to make the parties whole. I’m sure all concerned will be able to live with the consequences. Indeed, Chappelle says he hasn’t spent any of the money.
Frankly, were I Chappelle, I wouldn’t be suffering from an ethical crisis because of the possibility that whatever problem he is experiences might not rise to the level of an all-out drug addiction or psychotic breakdown in someone’s eyes.
But would you give the money back? I think, if I didn’t, I’d be feeling a little guilty. Of course, that all depends on how my employer felt about my behavior. If CC is cool with it, in the end it’s entirely moot, I suppose. In their shoes, I probably would have appreciated some amount of notice.
It seems to me that according to Chappelle’s statements, this is not an accurate description of his problem. It didn’t seem to me that he was putting the blame on Comedy Central at all.
In my mind, the fact that Chappelle said he hadn’t spent any of the money implied that he would give it back if he failed to live up to his obligations (in one way or another).
I doubt very much that they are cool with it. Their official statements indicate that they would have preferred a different outcome. However, they also seem to be speaking graciously in indicating that they hope that Chappelle gets better soon.
The head of CC did state that he hoped that Chapelle would work with CC again. That might be a pleasantry for public consumption, while telling Chapelle through his agent that he’ll never work in Hollywood again.
Comedy Central is in New York. 
Unless Chappelle has a REAL meltdown, he’ll be able to weather this and still be a star.
So, I watched some of Chapelle’s Show last night. Or rather, Wayne Brady’s Show. That was a damn funny way to turn things around and start airing some of the already-shot material … but how, exactly, did they do all that? When did they shoot the stuff with Chapelle about Dave leaving, getting replaced, etc.? Am I missing something else?
Uh, that’s a rerun from season 2.
That whole Wayne Brady episode, now a classic, is a put-on, filmed when Dave was very much a part of the show. Season three still lies in the future; no unaired Chapelle show here.
Ah, got it. Thanks. Just seemed a little too on the nose, considering the current situation.