Dave Chappelle is mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore. “It” being streaming services running his iconic sketch series, Chappelle’s Show without him getting any cut from the deal.
In his new standup routine shared on Instagram, Unforgiven, Chappelle got into why he asked Netflix to pull the show from its platform after just a few weeks and why he is feeling pretty screwed over.
Chappelle said he asked Netflix to remove his show after he found out Viacom CBS licensed it to the streamer without asking him if they could. Netflix readily agreed to take it down. The problem is he’s not getting any money for the deal, and this, perhaps understandably, pisses him off.
In fact, he compared making the series available to “fencing stolen goods.”
HBO Max also has Chappelle’s Show and it’s still available there. In his routine, Chappelle told the audience that he called his agent and asked, “‘Is there anything I can do about this show?’ and he said, ‘Noooo.'”
That was not a satisfactory answer. Chappelle’s response, according to him, was “Well, fuck you too, then. If you want something done right, I guess you have to do it yourself.”
“I’m not coming to my agents,” the comedian told his audience, “I’m coming to my real boss, I’m coming to you.”
“I’m begging you,” Chappelle continued, “if you ever liked me, if you ever think there was anything ever worthwhile about me, I’m begging you, please don’t watch that show.”
“I’m not asking you to boycott any network, boycott me,” he said, “Boycott Chappelle’s Show. Do not watch it, unless they pay me.”
For now, Chappelle’s Show is streaming on Comedy Central, CBS All Access, and HBO Max. If you want to support Chappelle you can ignore it.
If you’re a huge fan of the show and bored over the holiday, you might choose to watch it, true–but make sure Dave Chappelle doesn’t know. He’s gotten pretty jacked since his Comedy Central days.
