Newsweek: Fears of a Clown (Dave Chappelle feeling pressure) (Merged)

Talha · May 11, 2005, 4:07pm

May 16 issue - “I’m so sorry,” says Dave Chappelle, chuckling as he shakes hands with a visiting journalist. “This is a terrible way to meet a person.” It is late afternoon and Chappelle has a long night of work ahead, so the introduction is a bit rushed. But more than likely, he’s referring to the fact that he’s covered in blackface, with white painted lips, white gloves, a red vest, a black cane and a Pullman Porter cap. Yes, that’s definitely it. It is November 2004, just a few weeks into shooting on the third season of “Chappelle’s Show”—a process that will soon become far more tortured than anyone ever expected. At the moment, though, all is tranquil. Today’s scenes are part of a delicately titled sketch, “The N----r Pixie,” in which Chappelle plays a cackling, devil-on-the-shoulder creation who serves as the self-hating conscience of famous black men, such as Tiger Woods and Chappelle himself. Hence the racially combustible costume. In Chappelle’s universe, this is high comedy—the kind of brazen stunt that has become his show’s calling card. As he heads back for another take, he flashes the journalist a giant grin: “Bet you never met a real live coon before!”

During NEWSWEEK’s visit to the set, Chappelle, 31, appeared in complete control. As the minstrel-accented pixie, he kept busting up the crew with his profane ad-libs over footage of Woods attempting a putt. (“Show 'em how n----r you are! Stick your d–k in the hole!”) Between takes, he would snap back into regular-guy mode, chatting quietly with his wife, Elaine, and horsing around with his two little boys, who were visiting from the family’s home in rural Ohio. The show seemed on course for its Feb. 16 premiere.

Two weeks after our visit, however, Chappelle’s publicist disclosed that the star was halting production on the series, canceling magazine commitments and indefinitely delaying the start of the third season. The stated cause: “intense personal issues.” The season premiere was soon rescheduled for May 31. But just last Wednesday, Chappelle and Comedy Central jointly announced that production had been halted—and the season premiere indefinitely postponed—yet again. The need for this latest delay, which was announced less than 24 hours after a network presentation to advertisers, evidently took Comedy Central by surprise. The channel had aired promotional spots for the May 31 premiere the previous night.

What’s going on with Dave? Published explanations for the ini-tial delay ranged from a nasty flu bug to “walking pneumonia” to writer’s block. According to friends of Chappelle’s interviewed by NEWSWEEK, however, the real cause of all the turmoil is more complicated. Since last summer, when Chappelle signed a staggering deal with Comedy Central worth up to $50 million to produce two more seasons of the show, friends say he’s been worn down by a toxic combination of too much pressure, too much partying—and a creative rift with the network.

[Newsweek]](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7773670/site/newsweek/)

Femme_Fatale · May 11, 2005, 4:14pm

Re: Newsweek: Fears of a Clown (Dave Chappelle feeling pressure)

I don;t have time to read the article but I hate clowns, they frighten me. There was a clown invited to this kiddie birthday party last week, I sat facing away from him on the furthest table possible. He made pretty things out of ballons though.

Y2Mu · May 15, 2005, 6:33am

Re: Newsweek: Fears of a Clown (Dave Chappelle feeling pressure)

No way he's getting paid 25 mill a year.... that ludicrous. Larry King gets something like 13 and he draws more viewers.
I say more like 5-8 mill a year.

Talha · May 15, 2005, 2:04pm

I don't think people realize how hard being a comedian really would be. You have to be funny at all times, how many hundreds of people each day does he meet in person and each one expects him to be funny much less the millions that watch him on television. That is a ridiculous amont of pressure to be put under, especially when you have to think of new ways to be funny and stay fresh.

Chris Farley died because it was too much pressure and he resorted to alcohol and drug use, which killed him. I am glad to see Dave took the initiative and got help before it came to serious.

Sure people will say he is a millionare, who cares if he is under pressure, he is paid to make people laugh and its not like he has finacial problems, he is set for life. Well a man can only go so far, and money is not a cure all.

Sara516 · May 21, 2005, 3:31am

Dave Chapelle

Man when is this guy coming back? Comedy Central is so dead w/o him, I’m sick of all the repeats

sara_zzz · May 21, 2005, 4:26am

Re: Dave Chapelle

at least you have comedy central i only have ary n geo.

elahi · May 21, 2005, 6:37am

Re: Dave Chapelle

Hes muslim now and doesnt want to do the show anymore,,, at least I hear as much

Furqan · May 21, 2005, 12:35pm

Re: Dave Chapelle

^
yea..and that $80 million dollar contract he signed is gona goto garbage?

source ? link?

elahi · May 21, 2005, 7:44pm

Re: Dave Chapelle

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1061415,00.html

there u go dude. And thats Time Magazine

Furqan · May 21, 2005, 11:23pm

Re: Dave Chapelle

of course he wants to do the shows...he will come back soon time :)