Comedy Central golden
boy Dave Chappelle has admitted himself into a mental health facility in Africa,
as reported by Entertainment Weekly today (May 12).
The comedian has been M.I.A. since last week, after Comedy Central
officials announced plans to postpone production with an undetermined re-start
date of the third season of “Chappelle’s Show.”
Chappelle flew to South Africa from Newark, NJ for treatment
on April 28, quotes an unidentified source close to the show. The facility has
not been named.
Comedy Central officials are keeping closed lip about Chappelle’s
whereabouts, with channel spokesman Tony Fox saying to the magazine “We
don’t know where he is. We’ve heard about South Africa. We don’t know.
We haven’t talked to Dave."
Members of Chappelle’s camp are keeping information under
wraps as well, with his publicist Matt Labov, not commenting on the magazine’s
reports, and other members denying that the treatment is drug related.
Entertainment Weekly senior editor Dade Hayes commented, “It
seems like the issues he’s contending with are really quite serious. It isn’t
a case of him spending a weekend someplace recuperating from exhaustion."
Chappelle reportedly singed a multi-million dollar deal for
the show’s 3rd season, brought upon by soaring DVD sales from the first
season.
The magazine says the show had yet to start stage production
for the 3rd season, and had wrapped only four to five episodes worth of sketches
prior to his abrupt departure.
