Comedian Dave Chappell released a video on Instagram on Tuesday urging fans not to stream episodes of his Comedy Central show. The request comes at the end of a long clip from Chappell, during which he reveals that he was dragged out after listening to the Netflix series.
“I beg you, if you ever liked me, if you ever think something useful about me, I beg you, please do not watch that show,” Chappell said. “I’m not asking you to ignore any network. Ignore me. ‘Ignore Chappell’s show. Do not watch it if they do not pay me.”
The bulk of the approximately 19-minute clip is dedicated to Chappell, due to a contract he signed earlier. Quit suddenly “Chappell Show,” he said, adding that he did not receive any extra money for the work he did – even though the big media companies continued to profit from his work.
“I signed the contract the way a 28-year-old father who signed a contract signed a contract,” he explained. “I was so eager, it needed a way out. It’s not good money, it’s not good circumstances, but, ‘What else am I going to do?’ I said.”
After two successful seasons, Chappell signed with Comedy Central for a $ 50 million extension. After several production delays, Chappell left the show and the country. Comedy Central then put together an abridged third season using unpublished sketches.
“People think I made a lot of money from the Chappell show. When I left the show, I never got paid. They didn’t have to pay me because I signed the contract. But is that right?” Chappell asked the audience. “I found that these people were streaming my work. They never had to ask me, they never had to tell me. Since I signed the law, it’s legal, but is it right?”
The comedian is also taking issue with HBO Max, which recently started streaming the show. He gave “Chappell’s Show” to HBO, which he rejected before heading to Comedy Central.
The executives who rejected the pitch asked him, “What do we need for you?”
“We’re here after all these years and they’re streaming the show I told them about,” Chappell said. He explained that Netflix was able to simply pull the show by asking them.
“When I found out they were streaming ‘Chappell’s Show’, I was angry,” he said. “How do they know? So you know what I did? I called them, I told them it makes me feel bad. And do you want to know what they did? They agreed to remove it from their platform so I could feel better. “
The clip ends with Chappell directly criticizing Viacom CBS, which owns Comedy Central, which he says is an unfair deal. He acknowledged that current executives may be unaware of the situation, as happened a decade ago, and encouraged them to go into the accounting department to see how much money “Chappell’s Show” had earned compared to how much he was being paid.
He then invites the company to make a deal with him.
Viacom CBS, which owns CBS News, did not respond to a request for comment.
