Dave Chappelle Explains Why 'Key and Peele' Hurts His Feelings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKeO-f3yg6Q

After infamously turning down $50 million to continue Comedy Central’s Chappelle’s Show for two extra seasons, Dave Chappelle is making $60 million for three Netflix specials, the first two of which, Deep in the Heart of Texas and The Age of Spin, drop on Tuesday. Patience pays off, literally. Chappelle recently spoke to CBS This Morning‘s Gayle King about the “long, long, long detour” between Chappelle’s Show and his return to stand-up comedy.

When King asked about doing anything differently, Chappelle responded, “That’s a tough question to answer. You know? Again, like I would say it’s very hard to say what you would have done. You only really know what you did. And at the end of the day, ultimately, I didn’t feel good about what I did. It was not easy. And I do not recommend it. But it worked for me, you know what I mean? I took the Dave Chappelle detour. It was a scenic route. I’m glad I took the route. But it was a long, long, long detour.” He also compared himself to a salt-loving baboon, which I swear makes sense in context.

Chappelle has moved on, but he’s still not quite over the heartbreak. “Chappelle’s Show’s was like breakin’ up with a girl and you still like her,” he said. “But in your mind you’re like, that bitch is crazy. I’m not going back.”

King also brought up comments Chappelle made last year, when he criticized Key And Peele stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele for “[doing] my show the last five f*cking years.” He claims he’s a fan of the unfortunately defunct sketch series, but “when I did Chappelle’s Show, there were certain conventions of the show that the network resisted. And I fought the network very hard so that those conventions could come to fruition… So when I watch Key and Peele and I see they’re doing the format that I created and at the end of the show it says ‘created by Key and Peele,’ that hurts my feelings.”

Check out the full interview above.