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Dave Chappelle is best known as a stand-up comedian, sketch artist, and actor. The first thing that comes to mind immediately is Chappelle’s Show, which is where he generated most of his wealth, along with his upcoming Netflix specials.
Chappelle has been considered a comic genius and, just a few years ago, “the best,” according to Billboard. His ultimate passion is his stand-up career, rather than any movies or television shows. That passion eventually led to his retirement from his Comedy Central show after a few seasons.
In the end, this man knows how to make money and make generations of people laugh. Chappelle’s racy humor mixed with his favorite topics of drug use, African-American culture, and politics made him one of the best comedians over the past 20 years.
Despite random hiatuses from the industry at times, money has certainly not been an issue for Chappelle, especially with his Netflix special about to finally air tomorrow. Let’s take a look at just how much dough the comedian has been pulling in.
Dave Chappelle’s Net Worth as of 2019: $75 Million
Chappelle’s current net worth is at a whopping $75 million. This is largely thanks to the fact that Chappelle’s Show is still airing today on multiple different networks due to its audience around the world. Oh, his new $60 million three-special deal from Netflix helps a little bit too. Another $3 million from stand-up shows is just some pocket change for the acclaimed comedian.
1993 – 2003
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Chappelle began his career in smaller movie roles. He jumped onto the scene in 1993, playing a part in the movie Robin Hood: Men in Tights. After that, the comedian stuck with the limited roles for the next few years. Chappelle made appearances in The Nutty Professor, Con Air, Blue Streak, and Undercover Brother before his big break in 1998.
Chappelle’s first major role was in the movie Half Baked, which has become a cult classic and really escalated him into comedy history. Half Baked earned $7,722,540 in its opening weekend and was easily considered a success at the box office.
His best-known work started in 2003.
2003 – 2005
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Chappelle’s Show was launched in 2003, making Dave Chappelle a household name. The sketch series was incredibly popular, but it was not Chappelle’s favorite thing to do. The show only ran for two years before his retirement because Chappelle was not a fan of the hours had to put in and he wanted to focus on his stand-up career.
The show was created by Neal Brennan and Chappelle, starring Charlie Murphy, Donnell Rawlings, and, of course, Dave Chappelle. The series premiered on Comedy Central, and there was a third, incomplete season, known as “The Lost Episodes.”
The cornerstone of the show featured Chappelle’s racy humor that left audiences around the world in fits of laughter. TV Guide placed the show in the #31 spot on their list of “Top 100 Shows,” and it also ranked #26 by Entertainment Weekly‘s “New TV Classics.”
2006 – Present
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Just one month before the third season of his show was supposed to air, Chappelle left the production stage and took a trip to South Africa. He disliked the show and the industry so much that he turned down a $50 million offer from Comedy Central for another season.
The following years were filled with mixed and random appearances from Chappelle. In 2004, he was the star and producer of a documentary called Dave Chappelle’s Block Party. The documentary trailed the comedian hosting a free concert in Brooklyn headlined by Kanye West and a few other artists. Chappelle heavily promoted the film and it was a box office success, generating $11.7 million.
From 2006 through 2013, Chappelle would pick and choose times to do comedy shows. The shows were more of at his leisure, and he wouldn’t let the industry decide where his career would go. In multiple interviews, Chappelle also said he didn’t fully agree with some of the sketches from his hit show.
2013 was known as the start of Chappelle’s resurgence into the industry. He once again started working in films and appearing in late show interviews. Chappelle also hosted Saturday Night Live on November 12, 2016.
It was announced that Netflix will air three new stand-up comedy specials with Chappelle, set to release March 21, 2017. As previously mentioned, the deal with Netflix was worth $60 million. Chappelle will also produce his own original comedy special with the online streaming platform, and two of the stand-up shows have never been seen before.
With that, welcome back Dave Chappelle and enjoy all that cash. For everyone else, well, we finally get to enjoy some new originals from the comic genius.
2018
Dave Chappelle, the stand up comedian, is all set to have another one of his Netflix specials on the streaming service, one which he hopes to emulate the success of his last one.
2019
According to a recent interview, Dave Chappelle was approached by R. Kelly’s goons to harm him but Dave’s own goon troop saved him.
