Dave Chappelle Clarifies His Opinion on ‘Key & Peele’

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In a recent interview with CBS This Morning’s Gayle King, Dave Chappelle opened up about some comments he’d previously made about Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele’s hit Comedy Central show, Key & Peele. For those who are unaware, Chappelle has made a few passing remarks about the comics and their now defunct sketch show, which many have compared to Chappelle’s Show, in the past couple years. Audio from a 2015 stand-up show in Santa Fe had Chappelle backhandedly saying of the duo “I don’t know how they came up with a show that great… Oh, that’s right, I remember how.” Back in October, Chappelle again mentioned the comics’ names on stage, saying “I’ve been watching Key and Peele do my show the last five fucking years.” It seems that Chappelle agrees that the two shows were quite similar, and now he’s addressed that fact more directly.

When prodded by King that “there’s speculation that Dave doesn’t like Key & Peele,” Chappelle clarified that he was actually a fan of the show, but that he feels as if the show is more directly influenced by his show than he gets credit for.

Chappelle: “I fought the network very hard so that those conventions could come to fruition. So, like the first episode I do, that black white supremacist sketch. And it’s like, ‘Well, that’s 10 minutes long. It should be five minutes long.’ Why should it be five minutes long? Like, these types of conventions. I fought very hard. … So when I watch Key & Peele and I see they’re doing a format that I created, and at the end of the show, it says, ‘Created by Key & Peele,’ that hurts my feelings.”

Chappelle’s Show truly was a new style of sketch show that broke a lot of conventions in the genre, paving the way for more bold, creative comedy on TV. But some argue that the point of breaking boundaries is to set a new precedent for those who come after. Of course, Chappelle certainly deserves acknowledgment for his contributions to the genre, but how much is enough?

What do you think of Chappelle’s comments? Do you think he’s justified, seeing as how much of what Key & Peele did wouldn’t have been possible without Chappelle’s Show? Or do you think that this is perhaps a little jealousy and regret from the guy who walked away from what was one of TV’s biggest shows at the time, with a format that Key & Peele did not necessarily do better, but very successfully? Let us know in the comments below.

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Bill Tressler

Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.
Bill Tressler
Bill Tressler
Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.