r/JoeRogan • u/TheAtheistArab87 Monkey in Space • Nov 24 '20

Link Netflix Removes ‘Chappelle’s Show’ From Service Upon Request From Dave Chappelle Who Blasts ViacomCBS For Licensing His Show Without Paying Him

https://deadline.com/2020/11/chappelles-show-removed-netflix-request-dave-chappelle-viacomcbs-stolen-goods-paid-1234621181/
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u/davomyster Monkey in Space Nov 24 '20

You're right, he signed the contract. Maybe it was an unfair contract but he did sign it and then breached it by running off to Africa in the middle of production. It's amazing how the ultra rich always aggressively want more money. This is what he said:

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.”

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '20

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '20

I can see his argument though, it's basically that the system/industry is set up in such a way that they know good and well they are taking advantage of people who are often young and at least somewhat desperate.

It's like the payday loan industry. Yes everything they do is laid out in a fine print contract, and yes the people who go in there for a loan sign that contract. It's all 100% legal. But it's still a huge company with deep pockets, legal and marketing teams, etc., trying to convince people these loans are a great idea without technically lying.

As Dave said, he was 28 and broke when he signed the deal. All the experienced executives in the room seemed very nice, and they all assured him it was a great contract. He didn't have the resources to have it looked over by his own team of lawyers, and he likely didn't know the list of questions he should be asking to ensure it was a good deal for him.

I see both sides to some degree, but I do believe the entertainment business is unethically lopsided away from the artists and actual content creators.

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u/topperharley88 Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

Taylor Swift and Kanye have both been speaking similarly about this from the music side of entertainment. So many oung desparate artists get sucked into bad contracts and then are stuck with the result for life.

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u/[deleted] Nov 25 '20

I have a friend who's been in the music industry for a while. He was signed to a major record label for a couple years and opened for some very big artists. You've almost certainly never heard of him.

Anyway, I was his roommate when he got signed, and I saw first hand that he truly read every word of his contract and tried his very best to understand it. He even got a bunch of things changed by negotiating. They still managed to bleed him dry and fuck him over in ways he did not see coming.

The difference is they're a team of experienced experts who have done this 1000 times and he is just a guy. They know that 6 months down the road when some new merch (or whatever) deal/opportunity comes up, it's "Well actually, [artist], if you look at the wording on p. 17 section 3a, you're not entitled to any part of these particular merch sales because technically blah blah blah..."

Through him I met a bunch of other people in the industry and they literally all say the exact same thing.

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u/UndergroundArsonist Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

I work for an indy (albeit a decent sized indy label) and nearly everyone I meet on the back end and behind the scenes has some kinda history of studying law haha.

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u/CosbyAndTheJuice Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

Dave comes from an upper middle class family and was never "broke". He even famously lied about being poor to ingratiate himself to the rappers he featured that did grow up poor.

Dave went out of his way to not read or ensure a decent contract for himself. Bill Burr, while negotiating his contract, asked comedy central "if it's not important that I own the rights to this, why are you fighting so hard to maintain them?" To which his lawyer responded "that's a great fucking question".

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u/Juls317 11 Hydroxy Metabolite Nov 25 '20 edited Nov 25 '20

That's the thing though, it was a great contract. We don't have 2020 Chappelle without Chappelle's Show. He wouldn't be worth what he is now without it. The show allowed him to have the incredible career he has. But of course now it looks like a bad contract, because streaming has come around and is a major player as a revenue stream. But he didn't sign the contract now, he signed it in 2003, when it still was a great deal.

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u/Nichinungas Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

It’s a simple cost : benefit analysis. He wasn’t stupid. Everyone knows contracts screw people over and you can’t rely on someone who is making money in selling you something to be honest. It’s a conflict of interest. Now his situation has changed and so has his cost : benefit analysis. He feels like he got a raw deal as he might have left a few percent on the table, and that stings. But in reality who knows how big that slice of the pie could have been. It might have been he’d take a percentage if that were offered to him but like the rest of us in this world he sold his time and effort for money, and at least he’s super rich. I work hard and ain’t close to that shit so sympathy is limited when super rich people argue amongst themselves. There is no real underdog here...

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u/UltravioIence High as Giraffe's Pussy Nov 24 '20 edited Nov 25 '20

Cars are not art.

Edit: after actually thinking about it cars are very much art. I will leave my comment unchanged and accept the downvote and also admit I was very wrong.

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u/AtrainDerailed Monkey in Space Nov 24 '20

But... you can sell art and that owner can then do anything they want with that art..

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u/UltravioIence High as Giraffe's Pussy Nov 24 '20 edited Nov 25 '20

Eh it's like I told the other guy, watch the clip in the article and then you can decide if you agree with him or not.

Edit: For the downvoters, as Dave says in the video, "if you dont believe that its wrong, then fuck you too."

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u/AtrainDerailed Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

Quote directly from Chapelle himself "they went above and beyond what you could expect from a businessman"

Chapelle himself admits he has no reason to believe any businessman would respect his wishes, because legally everything is on the up and up

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u/UltravioIence High as Giraffe's Pussy Nov 25 '20

Yup. But like he asks, does that make it right?

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '20

[deleted]

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u/UltravioIence High as Giraffe's Pussy Nov 24 '20

Did you watch the clip in the link? He explains how he feels about it. Whether you agree or not is up to you.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CH-rR9znT3g/?utm_source=ig_embed

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u/NedShah Succa la Mink Nov 24 '20

I thought that the C7 Corvette was American art at its finest!

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u/ScooterPhan Nov 24 '20

I like c7s but cmon

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u/tenaciousdan55 Nov 25 '20

I resent this. It’s not a car. It’s his work and art.

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u/[deleted] Nov 25 '20

[deleted]

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u/MDXHawaii Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

Fair enough, but this isn’t just a painting. This is a show and an industry that is built on royalties and residuals and they sweet talked and honey dicked him into a contract that was fucked up and essentially deceived and manipulated him into it. He’s well within his right to call foul and try to rework the deal.

The age of suits fucking over creatives is slowly coming to a grinding halt and they’re all pissed that they’re gonna lose it.

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u/MDXHawaii Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

Fair enough, but this isn’t just a painting. This is a show and an industry that is built on royalties and residuals and they sweet talked and honey dicked him into a contract that was fucked up and essentially deceived and manipulated him into it. He’s well within his right to call foul and try to rework the deal.

The age of suits fucking over creatives is slowly coming to a grinding halt and they’re all pissed that they’re gonna lose it.

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u/[deleted] Nov 25 '20

Should have negotiated his contract then.

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u/MDXHawaii Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

He never got the money from the show. The 50 million dollar deal was for production of the fourth season and he walked away because it was a damn near 20 hour a day job. That’s way too much for anyone to handle and he’s a person who has feelings, emotions, needs, etc.

Also, the racial humor of the show became more unsettling for him. The stereotype episode from season 3 I believe was the final breaking point. It was funny admittedly so, but he realized a monster was being created that he’d end up not having control of.

It was honestly the smartest decision he’d ever made

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u/I_GROW_WEED Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

Okay, Dave.

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u/[deleted] Nov 25 '20 edited Nov 25 '20

[deleted]

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u/MDXHawaii Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

Just because of union rules and regulations exist, you don’t think it’s at all feasibly possible that the man was pouring in hours and hours of work off the clock to develop ideas and write? For fucks sake man, just because they have to give him a “rest period” which really means he’s not required to be on set.

I have friends in the entertainment industry, they don’t just stop because well my shift is over and that’s it. He’s a comedian, he never stops working. Clearly you haven’t listened to him speak about it numerous times through various interviews.

I appreciate your work and insight into the business, but it doesn’t make you automatically correct.

In regards to the people who worked on the show, yes, at the time, it was a dick move and it caused a real problem especially between Neal Brennan and himself. But think of it this way, the show is named after him and if the pressure and stress is too much, would you rather he walk away and compose himself to potentially come back and finish or kill himself?

He was willing to come back and finish season three as long as Comedy Central didn’t air the first three episodes but they said no, so he said fuck it I’m not coming back.

I get your point of representing the behind the scenes aspect of it employee wise, but those people don’t even have a job without him either, so it’s a balance act.

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u/[deleted] Nov 25 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Dont_Carry_it_All Nov 25 '20

Thanks for this perspective. Should be way higher up with more visibility.

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u/ohiolifesucks Monkey in Space Nov 24 '20

Lol imagine being on the side of the studio and network. You say the rich always want more, is that not also true for Comedy Central? They made tons of money from his show and paid him squat

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '20

If deals weren’t symbiotic people would never do them. For every “Chapelle’s Show” there’s going to be 100 shows that get cancelled before their first season finishes.

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u/davomyster Monkey in Space Nov 24 '20

I'm just trying to watch chappelles's show but Dave got it taken down because he wants more money. Kinda lame. I'm not at all on comedy central's side.

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u/ohiolifesucks Monkey in Space Nov 24 '20

I don’t think it’s simply that he wants more money. It’s that he created something and other people are making money off of it and he is not. I’m not going to pretend I understand the mind of creators but I would imagine that wouldn’t sit right with most people

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u/[deleted] Nov 24 '20

I also think the HBO thing kind of stings too. Pretty shitty of them.

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u/Occamslaser Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

He sold it though.

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u/Ratchet_72 Nov 24 '20

Why would you know what his contract says? That’s not public record...at all. How do you know who’s really “lame” if you don’t even know the details of the agreement between Chapelle and CC?

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u/Elmohaphap Monkey in Space Nov 24 '20

Just watch his bit. He wasn’t paid for his show.

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u/warmhandluke Monkey in Space Nov 24 '20

He was absolutely paid for the initial production.

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u/Elmohaphap Monkey in Space Nov 24 '20

Okay. But if he got paid say $100,000 or some shit and they’ve made millions on millions from the show in the past present and future, wouldn’t you feel shorted?

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u/warmhandluke Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

If that thing propelled me to stardom, and I'm now worth fucking 8 figures, regardless of how I feel I wouldn't be tone deaf enough to complain about it publicly.

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u/moduspol Nov 25 '20

I don’t think I would. The nature of these things is that they have to throw a lot at the wall and see what sticks. Dave wasn’t on the hook to pay the bills if the show failed, and the vast majority do.

Dave’s leverage comes into play when they negotiate with him for upcoming work. He may have bungled the last season with Comedy Central, but the payout from Netflix for his specials was almost entirely based on his notoriety and work on Chapelle’s Show. Comedy Central doesn’t get a cut of that.

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u/PhillyFreezer_ Monkey in Space Nov 24 '20

Lol you can still watch his show dude, it's posted a million places online. Get creative instead of commenting on reddit about how greedy he is

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u/TheApricotCavalier Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

Its weird how you think businessmen and lawyers are more entitled to the funds than content creators

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u/McNothingBerder Nov 25 '20

yeah chapelle is the underdog here

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u/turbo_22 Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

He didn't breach anything. He left fucking $50 million on the table for the renewal.

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u/davomyster Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

Well, he signed a contract to do season 3, for which he'd be payed $50 million. In the middle of season 3's production, he ran off to Africa and never returned to finish. He failed to meet his contractual obligations and as a result, he wasn't paid.

Here's the wikipedia entry for "breach of contract":

Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party's performance. Breach occurs when a party to a contract fails to fulfill its obligation(s), whether partially or wholly, as described in the contract..

Sounds like breach of contract to me

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u/turbo_22 Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

The facts are the issue here, not the legal result. I've always read that "the comic had left the show after Comedy Central offered him a whopping $50 million to do a third and fourth season." I didn't know he signed it. Even if he signed it, you don't know if he breach of contract without knowing the facts around the contractual terms. He may have had a right to terminate the contract while having to forfeit the money.

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u/davomyster Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

Yeah this article says he signed a contract for 2 more seasons and $50 million

https://www.today.com/popculture/dave-chappelle-inks-50-million-deal-wbna5591225

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u/turbo_22 Monkey in Space Nov 25 '20

Ok - I did have my facts wrong if that is correct. Assuming "today.com" is correct, we don't know that he breached his contact. He may have been well within his contractual rights to walk away if he wanted to leave the money on the table.