I don't doubt it. Chappelle himself said from Africa over the summer, after evidently getting word about rumors spreading in the press, "I'm not crazy, and I'm not smoking crack." Well, maybe he is crazy and maybe he was smoking crack. Or maybe not.
Quite possibly, from comments he has made himself lately, he indeed did suffer some kind of crumbling from the pressure of being David Chappelle. Let's not forget, although the press loves to toss around figures about what people supposedly make, and how easy life is for people who get rich, they're still human.
When Dave Chappelle's show became a monster hit, suddenly this young man was responsible for a whole CREW of people's jobs. Companies like Comedy Central have to HIRE people to support a show like Chappelle's, mailroom clerks, secretaries, lighting people, etc. Suddenly, you and the schedule, writing a never ending supply of skits, and just plain continuing to be funny on cue, not spontaneously, become the order of the day. And if the show goes away, jobs go away, people making $8-10 an hour go away, the network suffers, executives get unhappy, and have to hear it from higher executives and shareholders.
And I wonder if this isn't what Dave Chappelle may have found himself thinking when suddenly he became quite literally the biggest comedian in the world. And so he goes to Africa with Ricky Williams, and they're sitting around the fire one night, watching the hippos graze, smoking something that Ricky likes, and he's thinking maybe, did I sign on for this in life? And don't forget, that $25 million? It's not all for Dave Chappelle, it's for him to continue doing his show on Comedy Central. In other words, it's for all the people that make his show work, and they all, including him, get taxes taken out of their checks.
So, even though you may be banging elbows at Nobu with Howard Stern as you work the chopsticks on your sushi, from what he has said publicly, it sounds to me as though Dave Chappelle feels that in becoming the biggest thing in comedy, he suddenly became somebody's commodity, too. And I have a feeling his momma didn't raise no commodity. He wants back the days of spontaneity, and just plain having a life, and not being somebody's puppet who has to keep cranking out material on cue so 500 other people can make a living.
Like Stern, for example. He had to specify things for Bill O'Reilly on The Factor last week, when he did a three parter with "Uncle Bill." All we keep hearing about is, "Howard Stern, $500 million." That $500 million is spread out for years, and it's not all for Stern, it's for his staff, everyone associated with the show, and all the tech people it takes to run the show. It's for that Baba Booey, or whatever his name is (I don't listen to Stern, have watched a couple times) and EVERYONE else. But because newspapers and the media work the way they do, and sometimes the impressionability of the minds of the citizenry, we tend to react to $500 million, and when Stern walks down the street, people may be thinking, such a horrible life, making $500 million.
They're still human, and although my biggest hero said it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter The Kingdom, he also said not to despise the rich. I think Dave Chappelle maybe just wanted to try going back to being human.
Interestingly, Ricky has opted to go back to being a commodity, and is doing fairly well. It may also be the only way he has of not having to pay back that $8.6 million. How complicated and painful life gets when we accept millions for our abilities. Look at all the downfallen Lotto winners.