For the better part of a decade, most fans of “Chappelle Show” assumed that its creator and star, Dave Chappelle, quit the series, subsequently leaving behind a $50 million dollar payday, over moral conflicts and creative control issues.
Chappelle himself once said he felt that some of the white crew members on the series were no longer “laughing with him” but instead “laughing at him” and that’s when he knew it was time to go.
The comedian and actor is singing a bit of a different tune these days, however. Chappelle recently told People magazine that the pressure of being on the “main stage” eventually got to him:
I never stopped being on stage. What I did was step off of the main stage, Because those lights were hot, and I was trying to do other things with my life.
Chappelle went on to say that he believed “that kind of attention wouldn’t have been conducive to raising a family.” The married father of three said that he began to long for quiet time with his family and he realized he couldn’t have that with the demanding work schedule that came along with the show. Though he wanted more family time, Chappelle says the relationship with the audience serves as a “healing process” and is still very much needed:
The audience-comedian relationship is one of the more consistent relationships in my life.
