The Genius of Dave Chappelle and the Brilliance of 'Unforgiven'

On November 24th, Dave Chappelle posted a video on Instagram simply titled Unforgiven. At nearly 19 minutes long, it is perhaps the most personal of all his standup performances, as he reveals some of his most private revelations and biggest grievances of his career and life, starting with his very first show at 14 years old.

Side note: I will summarize and highlight some key points from his performance, so If you haven't seen it yet I recommend watching it first before reading any further (caution: explicit language).

On a dark, cluttered stage and before an audience we never see, Chappelle leisurely sits on a stool with a microphone in one hand and a cigarette in the other and talks about his first stolen joke at the age of 15 and how it repeatedly led to other stolen material over the years.

"I think about it every day because that was the first time that someone ever did that to me. But in my career, it has happened many, many times since, where someone would intimidate me or scare me and take something that I believed was mine."

He continues to build on this theme of theft by guiding us through another important lesson that he learned one night in Greenwich Village while he was 18 and living in New York City. The lesson came in the form of a scam where Chappelle was the victim during a street game of Three-card Monte. He later gets in between the scam artist and another potential victim, which leads to a powerful, profound moment for Chappelle, one he says he'll never forget as he recalls the incident.

"...never get between somebody and their paper. Taking a man's livelihood away from him is akin to killing him."

He passionately leads us from one intimate story to another, and he finally brings us to the short-lived days of Chappelle's Show, which debuted on Comedy Central in 2003. The details of his abrupt departure from the show in 2005 have always remained somewhat murky and misunderstood, plagued at that time by wild rumors of his mental health and general well-being as he traveled to Africa to space himself from the show while also walking away from $50 million.

Since then, Chappelle has explained himself for why he suddenly left, but now decides to reveal just how painful the entire matter was to him, particularly with his behind-the-door experiences with executives.

He begins with the contract presented to him and how he was led to believe that it was a "good contract," describing how the vague language and terminology makes it hard to discern if any legal agreement is truly good for any artist, using the late Prince, his friend, as an example.

People think I made a lot of money from 'Chappelle's Show.' 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?

The creation of Unforgiven itself was perhaps spurred by the fact that Netflix and HBO Max began streaming Chappelle's Show on November 1st. A decision he greatly disagreed with, going as far as calling Netflix and telling them how it made him "feel bad," to which they sympathized and agreed to remove the program. He goes on to say that this is the reason why he chooses to work with Netflix: they pay him and do as they say while going above and beyond. However, with HBO, he tried to pitch the very show that now belongs to Comedy Central, but was literally told by executives, "What do we need you for?" Now, years later, he ironically asks in return, "What do you need me for?"

By this point, there's already a lot to digest, leading me to wonder and question where all this will ultimately lead to. Will Comedy Central, owned by ViacomCBS, be willing to sit down and rework the contract? Especially in a way Chappelle feels is fair and just to him? Or will the owners of his earlier work completely ignore him and continue business as usual while providing no compensation?

Will other artists bravely talk about their experiences of shady contracts and other instances of corporate theft of their work? What, if anything meaningful, will come from it?

Chappelle goes on to create a state of cognitive dissonance for every person who's ever liked his work. Beyond that, he is creating a moral dilemma by telling them,

"I think if, if you are f***ing streaming that show, you're fencing stolen goods. They stole that from me. They just took it."

It's too early to tell what significance this brave performance will have on his career, or if it inspires other artists to come forth with their own stories of theft by the entertainment industry. Unforgiven could also be used as an example to potentially spark a movement that can play out similar to the way the "Me Too" movement did in late 2017 and throughout 2018. Chappelle has joked about and has criticized that movement in previous acts, but in Unforgiven, he angrily builds upon it, expanding on the narrative by adding,

"And I'm not up here trying to tell you guys that I believe Comedy Central gave me a raw deal... just because I'm black. I believe that they gave me a raw deal because this f***ing industry is a MONSTER, and it's the same MONSTER that these "Me Too" b*tches was trying to tell you about! But they hate the MONSTER for how it f***s, and I hate that MONSTER for how it eats! But, my God, man, it's the same MONSTER!"

This sort of provoking, crucial commentary, and its timing, — this raw honesty — suggests that he's perhaps beginning to reach that stage of his career where he's undoubtedly entering the rarified ranks of some of the most important and greatest comedians of all time, and he knows it, he sees it. Think of other legendary pioneers like Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, etc. — where the art surpasses the artist by asking what is acceptable within our society and what isn't. I suspect he's reaching for this level of play where he can push beyond the boundaries of standup comedy and nudge forward the game in a whole new way. Chappelle has never been shy about how great of a comedian he is (just watch his Instagram video before Unforgiven as he accepts an Emmy), and many already consider him to be the G.O.A.T., but more importantly, can he push forward the evolution of standup in this kind of meaningful way, widening the lens through which we can see the greater possibilities of standup comedy?

You may think that sounds like a bit of a stretch, but, for example, consider the magnitude of what he asks of his audience as he begins to conclude the performance. He pleads with them,

“I’m begging you. If you ever liked me, if you ever think there was anything worthwhile about me, I’m begging you: please don’t watch that show. I’m not asking you to boycott any network. Boycott me. Boycott ‘Chappelle’s Show.’ Do not watch it unless they pay me.”

Fans are rarely, if ever, held to a standard. Think about that. Chappelle's boldly asking his own fans to reconsider taking part in enjoying a show that bears his very name but yet he receives no compensation for it.

He goes even further by not giving the audience any credit for understanding what's happening within his act, and to avoid any misinterpretation, he spells out exactly what the audience is witnessing: the public flogging of a network, which no one else dares to do. He's raising the audience to his level to perhaps save time with the public conversation of exactly what his intentions are and what he's doing.

Through this video alone he seeks justice for Chappelle's Show, and if he doesn't willingly receive it, then, he warns, "I'll just take it." An act of reclamation of his work, and thus one of his greatest artistic contributions, not only to standup comedy, but quite possibly to all art as well, simply by using his own example and fearlessly leading the way. In turn, helping to give more power and control to artists and to let them dictate more of how their art should be used.

Imagine if he can help build that kind of momentum and where, creatively, that would take artists.

The essence of Dave Chappelle, his genius, is not in his comedy but in his ability to tell a story. He's a powerful, natural storyteller, and with each passing performance, he's connecting his own story to the much bigger overarching story of us humans, which involves all people of all colors and backgrounds and the issues we commonly face, like inequality, and all the different masks it wears: gender, pay, race, etc.

One thing is for sure, Chappelle is steering his story in a new, brave direction, one where he is enlisting the help of his fans while also raising the stakes of standup comedy — which is always personal but rarely makes strong calls to action from its audiences. It's easy to overlook the importance of this latest act, but if you understand the enormous trajectory that he's now catapulted himself on (and to a much lesser degree his fans), then you realize the long path before him to the other side won't be easy.

After this strong, impassioned performance, none of us can know exactly what Dave Chappelle will do next, or if even Comedy Central would be willing to work again with him. He's unquestionably reaching for the opportunity to regain control of Chappelle's Show, but because he's taking such determined risks by being brave, bold, and truthful with his story, I'm watching closely. In fact, we should all pay close attention as to what may or may not follow.