In an Instagram clip posted on Thursday, Chappelle announced that the Comedy Central show he produced and left acrimoniously returned to the streaming site on Feb. 12, just over two months after it had been removed at his request.
According to Hollywood Reporter, In the film, which appears to be from the comedian’s latest Austin tour, Chappelle gives insight into what led to Netflix pulling Chappelle’s show back at the end of November last year. Speaking of the recent uprising in Washington, D.C., Chappelle refers to people who need to know “where their power lies.” He described his conflict with Comedy Central and his requests that they pay him for any contract relevant to Chappelle’s show, and then clarified it.
I asked you to stop watching the show and thank God almighty for you, you did,” Chappelle said about his fans. “You made that show worthless because without your eyes it’s nothing.
He added: “And when you stopped watching it, they called me. And I got my name back and I got my license back and I got my show back and they paid me millions of dollars. Thank you very much.”
On the one hand, I'm happy Chappelle's Show is back on Netflix.
On the other, I cannot believe we're still obsessing over a sketch show that only had 3 seasons and has been off the air for 15 years. Priorities, I guess…#DaveChappelle #KingDavid pic.twitter.com/uYnbixgY2I
— J. Brandon Lowry (@jbrandonlowry) February 12, 2021
Chappelle then thanked Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, for having “the courage to take show off its platform at a financial detriment to his company, just because I asked him to.” He also thanked ViacomCBS’s Chris McCarthy for “making the past right,” by finishing the contract.
He ended the clip by saying, “after all these years, I can finally say to Comedy Central, “After all these years, I can finally say to Comedy Central, ‘it’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”
Chappelle’s Show had been streaming on Netflix in the U.S. from Nov. 1. In an 18-minute video of his standup released on Nov. 24, the comedian talked about the terrible contract he signed at the outset of Chappelle’s Show, which ran from 2003-06 on Comedy Central.
People think I made a lot of money from Chappelle’s Show,” he said. “When I left that show I never got paid. They didn’t have to pay me because I signed the contract. But is that right? I found out that these people were streaming my work and they never had to ask me or they never have to tell me. Perfectly legal because I signed the contract. But is that right? I didn’t think so, either.
@DaveChappelle deserves all his coin$ and that's on Mary had a little lamb. #DaveChappelle #RedemptionSong pic.twitter.com/Qk2o0RanEt
— Where the Money Reside in 2021 (@MsPettySavage1) February 12, 2021
He announced that Netflix had been asked to pull the film, which they eventually did. Chappelle’s Show, for Comedy Central and the comic, was a breakout. Chappelle left the series after signing a reported $50 million contract ahead of the show’s third season, citing the stress of making the show and his growing frustration with the material in his sketches.
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