Report: Chappelle in mental health facility

[RBA]

Report: Chappelle in mental health facility
Entertainment Weekly reports that the star checked in Wednesday

The Associated Press
Updated: 7:05 p.m. ET May 11, 2005

NEW YORK - Comedy Central star Dave Chappelle has checked himself into a mental health facility in South Africa, the magazine Entertainment Weekly reported on Wednesday.

The comedian’s whereabouts and condition have been unknown since Comedy Central abruptly announced last week that the planned May 31 launch of the third season of “Chappelle’s Show” had been postponed and production halted.

Chappelle flew from Newark, N.J., to South Africa on April 28 for treatment, said the magazine, quoting a source close to the show it would not identify. Entertainment Weekly said it had corroborating sources for its story.

“We don’t know where he is,” Comedy Central spokesman Tony Fox said. “We’ve heard about South Africa. We don’t know. We haven’t talked to Dave.”

Chappelle’s spokesman, Matt Labov, would not comment on the magazine’s story.

“It seems like the issues he’s contending with are really quite serious,” said Dade Hayes, a senior editor at Entertainment Weekly. “It isn’t a case of him spending a weekend someplace recuperating from exhaustion.”

The magazine’s sources say Chappelle is still in the facility, which was not named, Hayes said. Chappelle’s representatives have denied that the comedian was abusing drugs.

Chappelle reportedly signed a $50 million deal with Comedy Central for two more seasons of his show, a payday made possible because of the explosive sales of the show’s first season DVD.

The magazine said Chappelle had shot four to five episodes’ worth of sketches for the new season, but none of its onstage introductions.


© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2005 MSNBC.com

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[Unassisted]

I'm not a fan of his show, but that's... just... bizarre.

I can imagine "Entertainment Tonight" might be moved to set aside some of its time devoted to the Michael Jackson trial to do a story like that. ;)

[ws1990reds]

He may in fact be getting "treatment', but I say he has far more to benefit from with disappearing act than any treatment he might get. Hollywood will do anything nowadays. :rolleyes:

[Ravenlord]

as i understand it, Dave's been having trouble living up to the expectation even at Season 2...i guess $50million later, he might not be able to handle the pressure.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Chappelle’s representatives have denied that the comedian was abusing drugs.

Yep. Right. Sure. Okay. WHATEVER...

I can believe the having trouble following up the 1st season. But I can also believe that drugs may have "helped" (in his opinion) get him through the mental anguish. A story that has been written over and over and over with the Hollywood types and the comedian types. I know what I am betting my money on in this case. Wonder if Dave's representatives will bet me and then agree to a lie detector test?

[Jaycint]

Whatever the real issue with his being in a facility may be I just wish him the best and hope he makes a speedy recovery. I think the guy is a comedic genius and I'm anxious for the 3rd season to get rolling.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Whatever the real issue with his being in a facility may be I just wish him the best and hope he makes a speedy recovery. I think the guy is a comedic genius and I'm anxious for the 3rd season to get rolling.

I agree, Jay. My comments may have seemed harsh, but just a guess that is backed up by years of the same ol'-same ol' in the entertainment industry. I hope Chappelle can get it back together and achieve the same level of success.

[registerthis]

Yep. Right. Sure. Okay. WHATEVER...

I can believe the having trouble following up the 1st season. But I can also believe that drugs may have "helped" (in his opinion) get him through the mental anguish. A story that has been written over and over and over with the Hollywood types and the comedian types. I know what I am betting my money on in this case. Wonder if Dave's representatives will bet me and then agree to a lie detector test?
What if he ISN'T on drugs and is legitimately having serious mental health issues? Seems a bit harsh to assume that simply because he's a celebrity who's having mental problems that he's obviously on drugs.

[RedFanAlways1966]

What if he ISN'T on drugs and is legitimately having serious mental health issues? Seems a bit harsh to assume that simply because he's a celebrity who's having mental problems that he's obviously on drugs.

Just my opinion. History tends to repeat itself and there are lots of entertainers from the past that can back that up. Of course I do not know. But it is a bet that I'd take in a heartbeat. And I am sure that a lot of people with mental anguish (for whatever reason) who turn to drugs to ease their anguish.

I am not a doctor or a drug counselor. Just a person who has his own opinion. The same as those who believe his representatives. OJ's reps told us that he was innocent of double murder. Kurt Cobain's reps told us that he did not have a heroin addiction. Robert Blake's reps told us that he did not murder his wife. Judy Garland's reps told us that she did have drug or alcohol problems. Frank Sinatra's reps told us that he had no ties with the mafia. And so forth and so on. I doubt that we'll ever know the truth. As there are those who will believe his reps, there will be those who do not. The whole story is ODD (with caps). I hope the man gets his peace of mind.

[Brutus_the_Red]

Just my opinion. History tends to repeat itself and there are lots of entertainers from the past that can back that up. Of course I do not know. But it is a bet that I'd take in a heartbeat. And I am sure that a lot of people with mental anguish (for whatever reason) who turn to drugs to ease their anguish.

I am not a doctor or a drug counselor. Just a person who has his own opinion. The same as those who believe his representatives. OJ's reps told us that he was innocent of double murder. Kurt Cobain's reps told us that he did not have a heroin addiction. Robert Blake's reps told us that he did not murder his wife. Judy Garland's reps told us that she did have drug or alcohol problems. Frank Sinatra's reps told us that he had no ties with the mafia. And so forth and so on. I doubt that we'll ever know the truth. As there are those who will believe his reps, there will be those who do not. The whole story is ODD (with caps). I hope the man gets his peace of mind.

And he has a house out in Yellow Springs. Nothing but a bunch of pot-smoking hippies out there. That's enough evidence for me. :p:

[TRF]

E broke in with special reports about Chappelle being admitted. I honestly thought it was a joke.

[Blimpie]

Are the mental health facilities in the United States so bad that he has to fly to the Congo to get straight????

[westofyou]

Are the mental health facilities in the United States so bad that he has to fly to the Congo to get straight????

Is US Education so poor that we now think that South Africa is the Congo? :evil:

[Blimpie]

Is US Education so poor that we now think that South Africa is the Congo? :evil:Oops. I just thought it said 'Africa'... :bang: My apologies to all of my fans in J'burg...

[registerthis]

Is US Education so poor that we now think that South Africa is the Congo? :evil:
LOL :D

[TRF]

wait... what does a conga line have to do with mental health?

[Blimpie]

wait... what does a conga line have to do with mental health?The legal department at Club Med has issued an injunction on all of your posts.... ;)

[RFS62]

Whatever the real issue with his being in a facility may be I just wish him the best and hope he makes a speedy recovery. I think the guy is a comedic genius and I'm anxious for the 3rd season to get rolling.


Well said, and exactly how I feel.

[letsgojunior]

I agree. Mental health issues are nothing to make light of. The fact that Dave made $50 M off of his show doesn't shield him from being human. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery from whatever it is. I love his show and will be buying the new DVD when it comes out.

[Reds Fanatic]

Time magazine has found Chappelle in South Africa and he is not in a mental health facility. He is apparently just staying with a friend in South Africa. Here is the article.

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


On the Beach With Dave Chappelle

Posted Sunday, May. 15, 2005

In this week's TIME, Christopher John Farley reveals why Dave Chappelle decided to leave his hit show and what he's been up to since he disappeared to South Africa two weeks ago. Last Friday night, TIME Johannesburg bureau chief Simon Robinson met with the comic at uShaka Marine World on the beach in the South African port of Durban. In a ninety minute conversation, Chappelle was eager to set the record straight on why he suddenly left the U.S. and what he's doing in South Africa. Here's Robinson's account:

Dave Chappelle shows up to our interview in a red t-shirt, blue jeans and shiny white sneakers. He lopes around in his usual style, pacing a lot, but does not seem like a man struggling to speak or to order his thoughts at all. He's lucid and thoughtful and a couple of times asks me to give him some time to think about answers. He concedes that he is dealing with a lot of issues and mentions that he had consulted a psychiatrist about a week ago for a forty minute session. He is also quite fastidious about keeping his new sneakers clean and stops at least twice to wipe smudges off their toes.

The first thing Chappelle wants is to dispel rumors—that he's got a drug problem, that he's checked into a mental institution in Durban—that have been flying around the U.S. for the past week. He says he is staying with a friend, Salim Domar, and not in a mental institution, as has been widely reported in America. Chappelle says he is in South Africa to find "a quiet place" for a while. "Let me tell you the things I can do here which I can't at home: think, eat, sleep, laugh. I'm an introspective dude. I enjoy my own thoughts sometimes. And I've been doing a lot of thinking here."

The picture he paints—and it seems a fairly honest and frank assessment— is of someone struggling to come to terms with a new position and power who's still figuring out how to come to grips with how people around him are reacting to the $50 million deal he signed last year with Comedy Central. Without naming specific characters, he seems to blame both some of his inner circle (not his family) and himself for the stresses created by last year's deal.

"There were things that overwhelmed me," he says. "But not in the way that people are saying. I haven't spent any of the money. All that stuff about partying and taking crack is not true. Why do I live on a farm in Ohio? To support my partying lifestyle?"

The problems, he says, started with his inner circle."If you don't have the right people around you and you're moving at a million miles an hour you can lose yourself," he says. "Everyone around me says, 'You're a genius!'; 'You're great!'; 'That's your voice!' But I'm not sure that they're right." And he stresses that Comedy Central was not part of the problem and put no more than normal television restrictions on what he could do.

"You got to be careful of the company you keep," Chappelle says. "It's hard to know how much to say. One of the things that happens when people make the leap from a certain amount of money to tens of millions of dollars is that the people around you dramatically change.

"During my ascent, I've seen other people go through that wall to become really big. They always said that fame didn't change them but that it changes the people around them. You always hear that but you never really understand it. But now that I'm there that makes a lot of sense and I'm learning what that means. You have to have people around you that you can trust and aren't just out for a meal ticket."

The breakdown in trust within his inner circle seems to have led him to question the material they were producing. He seems obsessed with making sure the material is good and honest and something that he will be proud. "I want to make sure I'm dancing and not shuffling," he says. "What ever decisions I make right now I'm going to have live with. Your soul is priceless." The first two seasons of his show "had a real spirit to them," he says. "I want to make sure whatever I do has spirit."

But Chappelle also says that he must share the blame for the stalled third season. "I'm admittedly a human being," he says. "I'm a difficult kind of dude." His earlier walkout during shooting "had a little psychological element to it. I have trust issues, things like that. I saw some stuff in myself that I just didn't dig. It's like when I brought a girl home to my mom and it looked as if my mom really didn't like this girl. And she told me, 'I like her just fine. I just don't like you around her.' That's how I feel in this situation. There were some things about myself that I didn't like. People got to take inventory from time to time. That's what this [coming to South Africa] is for."

This is Chappelle's second trip to South Africa. He first came to Durban, and visited Salim, in 2000. Chappelle won't tell me exactly how he met Salim but describes him as a family friend. A soft-spoken Muslim, Salim seems also to be something of a sounding board to Chappelle, who converted to Islam several years ago. While Chappelle is not doing a formal religious course in Durban, says Salim, who wore a simple cotton robe and hung back through the interview and photo shoot and only spoke when I asked him a question, "if he wants to talk religion then I'm there as someone to talk to." Says Chappelle: "This is kind of my spot where I can come to fill my spirit back up. Sometimes you neglect these things if you are running on a corporate schedule." The crux of his crisis seems to boil down to his almost obsessive need to "check my intentions." He uses the phrase a few times during the interview and explains that it means really making sure that he's doing what he's doing for the right reasons.

His family, he says, has been a huge support over the past eight months. "They've been phenomenal really, just incredible. What beautiful people. Everyone loves their family but it's good if you can like them too."

His religion is also crucial. "I don't normally talk about my religion publicly because I don't want people to associate me and my flaws with this beautiful thing. And I believe it is a beautiful religion if you learn it the right way. It's a lifelong effort. Your religion is your standard. Coming here I don't have the distractions of fame. It quiets the ego down. I'm interested in the kind of person I've got to become. I want to be well rounded and the industry is a place of extremes. I want to be well balanced. I've got to check my intentions, man."

That includes planning for the future. When I ask him if he would ever buy a place of his own in South Africa, Chappelle replies, "First of all I've got to make sure I've got a job."

He says that he's only been recognized five or six times in the two weeks he's been here. "It happens so sporadically that when it does it freaks me out because I have to remember, 'Oh, yeah, I'm famous.'" At the end of our interview/photo shoot an American woman does recognize him. "Number seven," he cries. "Wow, I'm not that big in Africa. I've got to do an action film here."

During most of the hour and a half that we talk, Chappelle is serious and introspective. But he still has his sense of humor, which comes out as we near the end of our conversation: "Is that enough to prove I'm not smoking crack or hanging out in a mental institution?"

[Larry Schuler]

Peanut butter and crack sandwich!

[ws1990reds]

I agree. Mental health issues are nothing to make light of. The fact that Dave made $50 M off of his show doesn't shield him from being human. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery from whatever it is. I love his show and will be buying the new DVD when it comes out.

I love the guy's work. Ain't nothing better than Chappelle. However, I'm not going to shed any tears for someone who has it made for life, financially. None of us here will ever make the kind of money he makes. It's ridiculous. Get a freaking counselor, Dave. For the record, I'm stating right now that this little "get away from it all" by Dave Chappelle is nothing more than a PR tactic. Wouldn't surprise me ONE BIT if his televison network is in on this. Like I said, Hollywood will do ANYTHING.

[Unassisted]

Time magazine has found Chappelle in South Africa and he is not in a mental health facility. He is apparently just staying with a friend in South Africa. Here is the article.

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1061415,00.htmlI read this, too and am completely unsympathetic. Since he's in breach of this contract which caused him so much angst, this stunt may relieve him of it.

I feel sorry for the dozens, maybe hundreds of production workers who planned to work on his show this summer. They either aren't being paid or get to sit and cool their heels wondering when production will resume or be shut down, while this mercurial star chills on the beach pondering when he wants to do his job again.

[Steve4192]

Sounds to me like Dave was unhappy with the quality of the work being done for season three and needed to get away from all of his 'yes men' in order to figure out how to fix it. While he certainly could have gone about it in a different way, I respect the fact that he didn't go for the easy money grab by just throwing together a sub-par product and cashing his check.

My guess is, whenever Dave gets back on track, he'll more than make it up to Comedy Central by providing them with a great show.

[wheels]

Sounds to me like Dave was unhappy with the quality of the work being done for season three and needed to get away from all of his 'yes men' in order to figure out how to fix it. While he certainly could have gone about it in a different way, I respect the fact that he didn't go for the easy money grab by just throwing together a sub-par product and cashing his check.

My guess is, whenever Dave gets back on track, he'll more than make it up to Comedy Central by providing them with a great show.

Yup.

Sounds to me like he's wanting to avoid the whole "Corporate Pimp Out" thing.

I don't care about the money he makes. The Entertainment biz is oozing with dough, so the good ones should get a piece.

Better him than Jeff Foxworthy.

[Jaycint]

Yup.

Better him than Jeff Foxworthy.

Truer words have never been spoken. :D