New York Post columnist Cindy Adams says that Dave Chappelle’s sudden departure from his Comedy Central series was rooted in guilt over the show’s provocative skits, some of which featured race-related material that he felt may have stepped out of satire and into unintentional coonery.
George Richardson, a 70-year-old retiree that was New Jersey’s only black member of the state legislature when elected in 1961, tells Adams he befriended Chappelle when the comic was attempting to steer the hip hop community into a positive direction.
According to Richardson, Chappelle began moderating roundtable discussions about the issue, and had even made plans to record a benefit single with proceeds going toward disadvantaged youth. Adams also said that the comedian began to sense that some of his “Chappelle’s Show” skits were not in line with helping the black community. Adams writes: Chappelle suddenly started saying things like, ‘I have to find out am I dancing or shuffling.’”
“On his very last TV show, he played blackface. That’s when he realized he was ‘shuffling’, Richardson said. “He almost had a breakdown. It dawned on him that, if they’re telling me what I’m doing is great, and I know what I’m doing is bad, then I can’t trust anybody anymore.
“Nobody walks away from Comedy Central and $55 million. What this man did is a profile in courage,” Richardson said. “The TV people are saying things like: ‘We know he’s got to get himself together.’ There’s nothing wrong with Dave Chappelle. He is together.