On Election Day, Dave Chappelle was a guest on Saturday Night Live. He used the opportunity of his appearance to talk about how ViacomCBS and its affiliates shortchanged him on his Chappelle Show when he was a nobody in the industry and lacked the clout and influence he has now. On the show, he called out ViacomCBS and said the company licensed the show to several streaming networks such as Netflix and HBO Max even without paying him for it, Deadline reports.
Chappelle promised to do something about this. Now, he has taken a step towards that direction by asking Netflix where he has a deal, to take the show off their platform. Netflix acceded to the comedian’s request by promptly taking the show off their streaming service. Chappelle has been with Netflix for four years now. He has a deal with the network to produce standup comedy specials that have been a hit with subscribers.
In a lengthy video that he released on Instagram, Chappelle reminisced way back to how he started and the events that led to his signing a deal with ViacomCBS. In the 18 minutes video titled “Unforgiven,” Chappelle said that people have always erroneously believed he made tons of money off his show that ran from 2003-2006.
Instead, he said he never got paid. He confirmed that he never got paid because of a contract that he signed to that effect. However, Chappelle questioned the morality behind the deal, saying he simply got shortchanged by the executives at ViacomCBS, Yahoo writes.
Chappelle went further to praise the decision by Netflix to take down the show off their platform at his request. He said that was why he loved working for Netflix – because they were considerate of the emotions of creatives and not just out to make money like the rest of Hollywood corporations and executives.
Just as he had done when he appeared on ‘SNL,’ Chappelle pleaded with his fans not to stream the show on the other networks. He asked fans to boycott the show if they ever loved him and his art until he got paid by ViacomCBS.
The “Chappelle’s Show” is still available on several brands and networks owned by ViacomCBS. Chappelle created the entire content of his show with ViacomCBS. He was also the executive producer and headliner of the show, which lasted for three years.
The “Chappelle’s Show” had run for just three weeks on Netflix before the network removed it. This means that millions of Netflix subscribers will no longer have access to the show on its platform.
Source: deadline.com
