Chappelle Surfaces (updated)

This Time Magazine account of Dave Chappelle's so-called disapearance seems to clear up some of the rumors. Just put the damn guy on the air.

Runaway comic speaks
`I'm not crazy,' Chappelle says
Chicago Tribune - May 16, 2005

NEW YORK -- Dave Chappelle says he's not crazy, on crack or in a mental facility.

"I'm definitely stressed out," the comedian told Time magazine in an interview more than a week after his hit Comedy Central show was suspended.

But, he added, "I'm not crazy, I'm not smoking crack."

He fled last month to South Africa for a "spiritual retreat."

Chappelle, 31, said he went to stay with friends in Durban because he wasn't happy with the direction of his show.

"You hear so many voices jockeying for position in your mind that you want to make sure that you hear your own voice," he said. "So I figured, let me just cut myself off from everybody, take a minute and pull a Flintstone--stop a speeding car by using my bare feet as the brakes."

Comedy Central President Doug Herzog has told staffers he believes there won't be a "Chappelle's Show" this year, but leaves the option open. He told Time that Chappelle has "complete creative freedom."

© 2005 by justin michael cresswell