The Theory
The first episode of Chappelle's Show aired on January 22, 2003. It was a lightly promoted thirty minute show that Comedy Central executives hoped would perform as well as earlier shows such as Strangers with Candy, or The Man Show. The budget was modest, the stars were modest — Chappelle's biggest success up until this time had been the cult stoner comedy Half Baked — and expectations were modest.
Chappelle was looking forward to the show's debut, but was nonplussed about its chances for success.
Clearly, neither Comedy Central or Chappell had any inkling of the impact Chappelle's Show would have on pop culture.
February 5, 2003
Chappelle's Show third episode featured a take off on the making of Roots, a topic that many upper-income, baby-boomer blacks hold sacred.
Soon after the airing of this show, a friend of Minister Louis Farrakhan recalled a heated phone call discussion between Farrakhan and Cosby. It appeared that, already upset from having seen Chappelle's Show before, Cosby had been pushed over the edge and decided to seek out help from his influential friends.
Chappelle remained blissfully unaware that he was a topic of heated debate amongst some of the most powerful members of black American society — in interviews it seemed he was completely engrossed in the growing success of his show.
February 12, 2003Episode four of Chappelles's Show, which by this time was beginning to pick up a head of steam with the public and critics alike, featured a sketch fantasizing about what would happen if black people were given reparations. The outcome was that Tron, a ghetto hustler, supplants Bill Gates as the world's richest man, and stock market prices for fried chicken related companies surge.
It's about this time that Al Sharpton, a staunch reparations supporter, and longtime fan of Chappelle, noticed the show's growing popularity. Sharpton began writing letters to his contemporaries concerning Chappelle, unaware that Cosby was also displeased and taking action.
February 26, 2003Episode six of Chappelle's Show featured the sketch "It's a Mad Real World" a take off on MTV's Real World series. In the Chappelle version, a white, suburban male rooms with six black inner city youth, and is terrorized throughout his stay. His dad is stabbed and his girlfriend is molested by his inner-city, African-American roommate Tyree.
Robert L. Johnson, alerted by the rumblings coming from the Cosby, Farrakhan, and Sharpton camps, decided to tune into this show to see what Chappelle had been doing that was getting so many black leaders rankled. After watching the show, Johnson reportedly thought to himself, "Bill, Al and Louis may be right — if this really blows up, it sets us up to be minstrels again." Just as Cosby and Farrakhan did, Johnson decided to get involved as well.
March 5, 2003
Episode seven of Chappelle's Show skewered the Star Wars franchise. It had a bit based around sexual molestation that occurs at the Jedi Academy. A reportedly furious George Lucas, demanded that his secretary place a call to Whoopi Goldberg, a long time friend of Lucas as well as an early benefactor and friend of Chappelle. Lucas wanted her to see if she could get word to Chappelle that he is not amused.
According to Lucas's secretary, it seemed as if Goldberg — like Bill Cosby — did not agree with the message that Chappelle's Show was sending to the African-American youth.
March 12, 2003Episode eight of Chappelle's Show saw the reemergence of the Tyrone Biggums — crackhead character. During his appearance, Tyrone is lured to an intervention with the promise of free crack.
After the show's conclusion, a reportedly furious Cosby got Farrakhan and Al Sharpton — who he had heard was also concerned about Chappelle's effect on the African American community — on a conference call. The three men decided to meet for lunch at Farrakhan's Chicago residence to discuss what action to take.
March 19, 2003Episode nine of Chappelle's Show was the one that captured the attention of Black America's biggest power broker — Oprah Winfrey.
The sketch that alerted Goldberg to the growing Chappelle phenomenon came to Oprah's attention in a roundabout way. "The Player Hater's Ball" sketch featured an aside by the Silky Johnson character talking about how Rosie O'Donnell wears "underwear with the dickhole in them."
O'Donnell mentioned the remark while lunching with Winfrey at the Palm in West Hollywood the next day. Winfrey, who had supported Chappelle early on, had her staff get a tape of Chappelle's Show so she could take a look at the sketch.
She was appalled at the subjects Chappelle mined for humor, and immediately began calling friends in the black entertainment and business communities to see what they thought of the show's content.
March 26, 2003The season's 10th episode features the R. Kelley "Piss on You" video. This contraversial sketch ignited a world of criticism and, unsurprisingly, caught the attention of Bill Cosby.
In a call on March 27, Cosby voiced his concerns directly to Chappelle.
In an aside to a co-worker, Chappelle reported telling Cosby how he was thankful for his insight, but while the show was riding a wave of acclaim, he didn't want to tinker with a successful formula. He believed Cosby was just over-reacting and didn't think much of the phone call.
March 5, 2003
Episode seven of Chappelle's Show skewered the Star Wars franchise. It had a bit based around sexual molestation that occurs at the Jedi Academy. A reportedly furious George Lucas, demanded that his secretary place a call to Whoopi Goldberg, a long time friend of Lucas as well as an early benefactor and friend of Chappelle. Lucas wanted her to see if she could get word to Chappelle that he is not amused.
According to Lucas's secretary, it seemed as if Goldberg — like Bill Cosby — did not agree with the message that Chappelle's Show was sending to the African-American youth.
March 12, 2003Episode eight of Chappelle's Show saw the reemergence of the Tyrone Biggums — crackhead character. During his appearance, Tyrone is lured to an intervention with the promise of free crack.
After the show's conclusion, a reportedly furious Cosby got Farrakhan and Al Sharpton — who he had heard was also concerned about Chappelle's effect on the African American community — on a conference call. The three men decided to meet for lunch at Farrakhan's Chicago residence to discuss what action to take.
March 19, 2003Episode nine of Chappelle's Show was the one that captured the attention of Black America's biggest power broker — Oprah Winfrey.
The sketch that alerted Goldberg to the growing Chappelle phenomenon came to Oprah's attention in a roundabout way. "The Player Hater's Ball" sketch featured an aside by the Silky Johnson character talking about how Rosie O'Donnell wears "underwear with the dickhole in them."
O'Donnell mentioned the remark while lunching with Winfrey at the Palm in West Hollywood the next day. Winfrey, who had supported Chappelle early on, had her staff get a tape of Chappelle's Show so she could take a look at the sketch.
She was appalled at the subjects Chappelle mined for humor, and immediately began calling friends in the black entertainment and business communities to see what they thought of the show's content.
March 26, 2003The season's 10th episode features the R. Kelley "Piss on You" video. This contraversial sketch ignited a world of criticism and, unsurprisingly, caught the attention of Bill Cosby.
In a call on March 27, Cosby voiced his concerns directly to Chappelle.
In an aside to a co-worker, Chappelle reported telling Cosby how he was thankful for his insight, but while the show was riding a wave of acclaim, he didn't want to tinker with a successful formula. He believed Cosby was just over-reacting and didn't think much of the phone call.
April 9, 2003The season finale of Chappelle's Show featured a sketch spoofing the popularity of "mate-swap" reality television programs. It revolved around a black family and a white family trading spouses, and plays on long held stereotypes about black male virility, while willfully promoting racial miscegenation.
Louis Farrakhan, most likely under the direction of Cosby, sought out the opportunity to speak with Chappelle. Farrakhan, who had advised Chappelle on his conversion to Islam in 1998, visited Chappelle on location days after the episode aired. His concerns fall on deaf ears, as Chappelle was resistant to pressure to tone down the show's content.
April 1, 2003While in Philadelphia, visiting her good friend Patti Labelle, Oprah Winfrey was seen meeting with Bill Cosby, who was also in town attending a function at Temple University. The two of them were witnessed dining at the exclusive Walnut Street eatery Le Bec Fin.
While the two were catching up, Cosby was overheard casually mentioning his concern over Chappelle's Show, and his failed attempts to convince Dave to change his brand of humor. "...funny you should mention that, I've had the same concerns," Winfrey reportedly responded.
The two spend a long dinner talking about how to exert covert pressure on Chappelle to change the show's content. Winfrey offers to reach out to friends she's spoken with regarding Chappelle. And just like that, the Dark Crusaders are born.
April 20, 2003With Chapelle's Show on hiatus before production for season two commences, Chappelle took some down time at his Ohio area farm. It was here that he received a strange package.
As told by Dave himself, at around noon, in the middle of an early season Cincinnati Reds game, there was a knock at his door. Chappelle was a bit concerned, as no one except his close family and friends were aware of where he was.
When he opened the door, all he found was a crudely wrapped package, with the inscription "For Chappelle" on it.
Inside the package was a voodoo-doll style replica of Chappelle dressed as Clayton Bigsby — the African American Klansman from his first show. The doll was riddled with safety pins, and had a noose tied sharply around his neck. Accompanying the doll was a message in a childlike scrawl that read, "what you're doing is hurting the African American community — it needs to stop."
Chappelle was extremely bothered by the development, but later chalked it up to a local group of black nationalists — "probably some college kids from Anitoch, a nearby University, looking for kicks."
Though Chappelle was unaware of it at the time, this was the first assault by The Dark Crusaders aimed at shutting down his comedy career.
More to come
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
got to shout
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