Chappelle: "I'll Come Back (with a few conditions)"

News Type: Other — Tue Aug 22, 2006 5:36 PM EDT

entertainment, tv, oprah, comedy-central, dave-chappelle

Corey Spring

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Should Chappelle Go Back to His Show?

Yes
68%
No
12%
Don't Care
19%

Total Votes: 226

(As pointed out below, this interview was probably from February, but just ran again today)

I am by no stretch of the imagination an avid Oprah viewer. However, as fate would have it, I happened to drop some things off at my grandmother's house today while the Queen of All Media's show was on, and wouldn't you know it, my old buddy Dave Chappelle was on the show again talking about his tiff with Comedy Central.

Unfortunately, I only caught a few minutes of the program, but I did happen to catch the very end when Oprah asked him point blank if he would return to his show on Comedy Central.

Dave responded that there would have to be a few stipulations, including an equal share of the DVD revenue between Comedy Central and the workers on the show, as well improved working conditions (earlier in the show he gave an example of producers pleading with him to wear a dress; Chappelle also had concerns that his show was reinforcing stereotypes instead of poking fun at them).

Chappelle again then looked directly at the camera and addressed Comedy Central saying that if they could come to an agreement:

I'd be happy to finish what we started together...

Which prompted a cheer from the audience and a further confirmation from Chappelle that he would return given the right set of circumstances.

This was all I caught of the program, if you happened to see it and have more details, leave them in the comments and I will update this as best I can.

Personally, I think the ship has sailed on the Chappelle Show. Dave is a good guy and he seems to mean well, but when you have to go use Oprah as an intermediary to talk to your former bosses... I think there has been some damage done there that either side is really going to get past. I say just let it stand for what it was and move on with the next chapter in life.

Of course, I am by no stretch of the imagination Dave Chappelle, either.

Technorati Tags: dave chappelle

On a completely unrelated note, here's a newspaper clipping from my hometown's paper on Sunday where they used the photo I posted on Newsvine of me and Chappelle.

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Public Discussion (14)

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2.7

1.3

{"commentId":261261,"authorDomain":"media"}

Matt May

I'm pretty sure you saw the interview that originally aired on February 3rd, according to Wikipedia. As it turns out, he never got in touch with Comedy Central after that to make the same offer to them.

{"commentId":261261,"threadId":"38283","contentId":"336041","authorDomain":"media"}

1 vote

#1 - Tue Aug 22, 2006 6:29 PM EDT

{"commentId":261485,"authorDomain":"spring"}

Corey Spring

It was a new episode. Chappelle is on Oprah more often than I'm at the bar.

{"commentId":261485,"threadId":"38283","contentId":"336041","authorDomain":"spring"}

1 vote

#1.1 - Tue Aug 22, 2006 9:53 PM EDT

{"commentId":261492,"authorDomain":"spring"}

Corey SpringDeleted

{"commentId":261493,"authorDomain":"spring"}

Corey Spring

Haha, now I'm not sure since I only caught the little bit of it. My bad if it was a rerun, I figured it was new because they mentioned his movie Block Party as being out on DVD - which it wasn't then.

If it was old, chalk it up to me being an idiot ;)

{"commentId":261493,"threadId":"38283","contentId":"336041","authorDomain":"spring"}

#1.3 - Tue Aug 22, 2006 10:02 PM EDT

{"commentId":261538,"authorDomain":"harleylady831"}

Texas Patriot-101848

Your not an idiot. I don't watch Oprah regularly either but I did see the original airing. My tvguide online listed it as a repeat. Your comments are still valid.

{"commentId":261538,"threadId":"38283","contentId":"336041","authorDomain":"harleylady831"}

#2 - Tue Aug 22, 2006 10:53 PM EDT

{"commentId":261640,"authorDomain":"gregh"}

Greg Hoke

Thanks for the Technorati tag. I had heard about it, but not imagined that it might be used that way. I only saw Dave Chappelle once before. I enjoyed the Conan O'brien interview, especially the "I ate a dog today" line. He is really very funny, although I miss half his allusions, because I don't watch tv. I can see why Dave was conflicted about the show - funny but the minstrel bit was more than a little evil. He and his team should set up their own production and keep creative control.

{"commentId":261640,"threadId":"38283","contentId":"336041","authorDomain":"gregh"}

1 vote

#3 - Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:42 AM EDT

{"commentId":262023,"authorDomain":"oped"}

Ugly Bastard

White comedians act the fool all the time, pointing out their foibles.

But when a black comedian acts the fool, he's reinforcing stereotypes.

It's not fair.

{"commentId":262023,"threadId":"38283","contentId":"336041","authorDomain":"oped"}

2 votes

#4 - Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:07 AM EDT

{"commentId":262116,"authorDomain":"psychoman"}

Psychoman

Race, race, race....tsk tsk tsk. Why the #$#% is it always race. Yeah it is a racially charged show that makes light of differences and stereotypes, but why, ugly bastard, is it Dave being martyred. I think it was a bad set of circumstances for some guy who happened to be new to running his own show and lacked the ability/courage to fight people making decisions they thought best for their bank accounts, not Dave's vision. Black white white black get over it.

{"commentId":262116,"threadId":"38283","contentId":"336041","authorDomain":"psychoman"}

1 vote

#5 - Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:05 PM EDT

{"commentId":262140,"authorDomain":"kdogg"}

Kody-101907

Hey Ugly Bastard, Are you saying that there is a double standard or that black people are just too sensitive? If it is the first, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT. It was a black man that said he was reinforcing a stereotype. If there is a double standard, he is the one that has it. If you are saying it is the second comment, um...no comment.

Hugs and Kisses,

K-Dogg

{"commentId":262140,"threadId":"38283","contentId":"336041","authorDomain":"kdogg"}

#6 - Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:17 PM EDT

{"commentId":262180,"authorDomain":"almasy"}

Dan Almasy

Yeah it is a racially charged show that makes light of differences and stereotypes, but why, ugly bastard, is it Dave being martyred.

I think that perhaps you're being too extreme. Nobody here is treating Dave as a martyr for some racial crusade.

Dave just happens to be a man of circumstances, and in light of those circumstances, I think that he has show a lot of humility and taken the time to ask himself questions that most people don't. Sure, the sketches are funny, and people get a good laugh from it, but does it re-inforce stereotypes? To a certain degree, it can, and Dave has show a lot of wisdom by recognizing that.

As a higher profile entertainer in the black community, Dave has taken a step back and said "Maybe I've gone too far..." and I think that's admirable.

Do you think that Carlos Mencia stops to think about wether or not he's making the term "beaner" more socially acceptable? No, he's just taking the $$$ and running with it.

Black white white black get over it.

I think we can all appreciate that you somehow transcend racism and stereotypes by merely shrugging, and saying "Get over it", but for many people, it's a very real and hurtful problem, and when a popular entertainer steps up and says "Maybe I was wrong about that ni**er joke" I think that should be applauded.

And finally, any man who can turn down $50 Million because he's scared of how it would change him, and how it would affect his life and family, is a bigger man than most of us.

{"commentId":262180,"threadId":"38283","contentId":"336041","authorDomain":"almasy"}

2 votes

#7 - Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:35 PM EDT

{"commentId":262263,"authorDomain":"shroud"}

shroud

I didn't see the replay, but checked Oprah's web site and it does confirm that the show that aired yesterday was a rerun of the February 3rd interview. I watched the interview live back in Feb., and they spent the last part of the segment hyping for the movie release - I'm guessing to keep the interview a little more timely they just subbed out some theater release date info for the DVD release info.

It was a pretty interesting interview, but honestly didn't really say a whole lot that hadn't already come out. It was nice to hear a lot of things which had been rumor confirmed or denied by Dave himself however. Oprah softballed him a *LITTLE*, but did call him out at least once (he said he didn't think he'd done anything CRAZY - she pointed out leaving the country without telling your wife is pretty crazy).

One really important thing to note - this interview was done BEFORE Comedy Central aired the "lost episodes". I think at the time there may have still be a chance to get the two sides back together, but them going ahead and airing them as-is with Charlie Murphy (and the other guy who's name fails me) hosting pretty much finished off any chance of reconciliation there.

Resources:

{"commentId":262263,"threadId":"38283","contentId":"336041","authorDomain":"shroud"}

1 vote

#8 - Wed Aug 23, 2006 1:17 PM EDT

{"commentId":262294,"authorDomain":"spring"}

Corey Spring

Yeah his buddy / co-writer Neal said in Time he would never work with Dave again, so I think the damage has already been done and not getting better anytime soon.

I hope Dave keeps touring and doing standup, his act has always been a lot funnier to me than his show (which was still good).

{"commentId":262294,"threadId":"38283","contentId":"336041","authorDomain":"spring"}

#8.1 - Wed Aug 23, 2006 1:33 PM EDT

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COREY SPRING

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