Netflix has pulled Dave Chappelle's show from its streaming service at the request of the comedian.
"Chappelle's Show," which originally aired on Viacom-owned Comedy Central from 2003 to 2006, has been streaming on Netflix since November, but in a video shared to Instagram on Tuesday, Chappelle revealed he never made any money from the show.
"People think I made a lot of money from 'Chappelle's Show,'" the comedian said. "When I left that show, I never got paid. They didn't have to pay me, because I signed the contract. But is that right? I found out that these people were streaming my work, and they never had to ask me or they never have to tell me. Perfectly legal 'cause I signed the contract. But is that right?"
According to Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Chappelle signed a contract with Viacom after his comedy show came to an end, allowing it to stream without additional payment. He later signed a multi-million dollar deal for other projects with Netflix in 2016. In his video, Chappelle said he was infuriated with how they handled the matter.
"I like working for Netflix because when all those bad things happened to me, that company didn't even exist. And when I found out they were streaming 'Chappelle's Show,' I was furious. How could they not — how could they not know? So you know what I did? I called them, and I told them that this makes me feel bad. And you want to know what they did? They agreed that they would take it off their platform just so I could feel better," he said.
"That's why I f--- with Netflix," Chappelle added. "Because they paid me my money, they do what they say they're going to do, and they went above and beyond what you can expect from a businessman. They did something just because they thought that I might think that they were wrong. I do, I think if you are f---ing streaming that show you're fencing stolen goods. They stole that from me. They just took it. I'm not up here trying to tell you guys that I believe that Comedy Central gave me a raw deal just because I'm Black, I believe they gave me a raw deal because this f---ing industry is a monster."
Chappelle has had several comedy specials on Netflix that have been huge hits.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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