After six years out of the spotlight Dave Chappelle is reportedly making his return to TV with a new comedy show.
According to The Daily, Chappelle will be not be featuring his talents on a network, but rather a paid subscription service similar to the likes of Netflix, Hulu or Crackle.
Fans of Chappelle still remember his shocking departure from the highly successful Comedy Central series Chappelle’s Show during it’s third season. In 2005 he walked away from a $50 million deal and went MIA in Africa. Almost no one, including his wife, kids and close relatives knew where he went.
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Chappelle later sat down with Oprah Winfrey in 2006 to discuss his reasons for leaving his top-rated show.
“I felt like some kind of prostitute or something. If I feel so bad, why keep on showing up to this place?” The hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching.”
That same year Chappelle released the documentary Dave Chappelle’s Block Party. The comedian produced and starred in the film which chronicled a 2004 block party concert held in Brooklyn, NY, featuring Kanye West, The Roots, Erykah Badu, Mos Def and Jill Scott.
Recently Chappelle has been dropping by comedy clubs in California and doing surprise stand-up routines.
A source at Hollywood’s Laugh Factory says that the comedian has been performing new material, “It’s all new. He started off talking about his career and what he’s going to do now, because someone like him can’t do Dancing with the Stars. He’s obviously working on some new project,” The Daily reports.
Not all of his recent performances have been upbeat. During a recent appearance at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles, Chappelle talked about his career lows. “It was really depressing. He was talking about the past, about the show,” said an audience member.
During her 2006 interview with Chappelle, Oprah asked the comedian the $50 million dollar question; “will he ever return to the Chappelle’s Show?”
“Here’s a scenario that I could come back to the show, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but this is what I want to do,” Chappelle says. “I do want to do my show again provided, one, I can make the proper work environment. But more importantly, I want to give. I don’t want the money. I don’t want the drama. I just want to do my show. I want to have fun again.”
Chapelle’s rep, Carla Simms says that the news of the comedian starting a new show is “absolutely untrue,” Entertainment Weekly reports.
While there is interest in getting Chappelle back in front of the camera, there has not been a formal agreement to launch a show.