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Dave Chappelle’s long-awaited return is finally here.
Prior to the release of his highly-anticipated Netflix comedy special, Chappelle sat down with “CBS This Morning” co-host Gayle King to dish on life after stepping out of the spotlight and his return to comedy.
Chappelle opened up to King about his decision to step away from a $50 million deal with Comedy Central for his highly praised Chappelle’s Show, using a poignant nature show analogy to explain.
Describing how bushmen find water, he said, “They do what’s called a salt trap — I didn’t know this, but, apparently, baboons love salt. So, they put a lump of salt in a hole and they wait for the baboon. And, the baboon comes, sticks its hand in the hole, grabs the salt and the salt makes its hand bigger, and he’s trapped. He can’t get his hand out. Now, if he’s smart he’ll let go of the salt, but he doesn’t. So, the bushman just comes and takes the baboon, throws him in a cage and gives him all the salt he wants. And, then the baboon gets thirsty, the bushman lets him out of the cage, the first place the baboon runs to is water, the bushman follows him and they both drink until they’re filled. And, in that analogy I felt like I was the baboon, but I was smart enough to let go of the salt.”
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The comedian shared his feelings on Key & Peele as well, a show that was heavily inspired by Chappelle’s Show. It was rumored that Chappelle wasn’t a fan of the duo’s show, but he actually enjoys it. However, he added that he does feel hurt when he thinks about how hard he had to fight for certain aspects of his show.
“I fought the network very hard so that those conventions could come to fruition. So, like the first episode I do, that black white supremacist sketch. And it’s like, ‘Well, that’s 10 minutes long. It should be five minutes long.’ Why should it be five minutes long? Like, these types of conventions. I fought very hard. … So when I watch Key & Peele and I see they’re doing a format that I created, and at the end of the show, it says, ‘Created by Key & Peele,’ that hurts my feelings.”
Chappelle also opened up about his friendship with Prince, explaining how much the late artist meant to him and his sister. “He was really kind to me and with a guy like that you have to understand that he’s iconic.”
Dave Chappelle’s comedy special is streaming on Netflix now.