Dave Chappelle: Still Paranoid

When Dave Chappelle spotted a couple of photogs waiting for him outside Swingers coffee shop in Los Angeles late last night, he asked if they were spies from Comedy Central. Sorry, Dave, that's the paparazzi.

Intrigued by photog's uncanny ability to sniff out a star from a mile away, the comedian asked, "How do you guys know people are going to be places?" Um, that's what they do for a living.

But what was most puzzling to Chappelle was the lack of demand over paparazzi photos of minority celebs. "How come paparazzi never takes pictures of black celebrities?" he asked. "Our pictures aren't as profitable are they?" Awfully deep conversation for that late at night, isn't it?

Tags: comedy central, ComedyCentral, dave chappelle, DaveChappelle

Reader Comments

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16. how sad that a comic genius like dave chappelle would continue to foment discord. i've read all the other comments/posts...so sad that everything always must be degenerated into a free-for-all on race. dave, you have lots of fans. and not all of them are black. consequently, when you issue remarks such as these, it causes one to wonder who is actually the racist here?

Posted at 5:04PM on Jun 6th 2007 by susan

17. LOL @ tinkerbell. "Lower profile Black peeps?"

Low profile white peeps = anyone from a reality show especially and including Kristen Cavalleri (can't spell her name, so she must not be important), Heidi Montag, Lauren (what is her last name again?!.) aka "LC," etc., etc. etc.

Being on a tv show does not make you famous. It doesn't quite constitute celebrity either. What you have are a million white wannabes and a handful of truly successful white people in entertainment.

You can laugh all you want, but the reason Black people's pictures are so-called "less profitable" than white people's pictures when it comes to the paparazzi is because Black people value something white people know nothing about - PRIVACY. Most Black people have no desire to be chased by the paparazzi, have their trash cans rummaged through, have people taking pictures of them and their families through bushes on their private property, etc. That, coupled with the fact that a lot of Black people have learned that being behind the scenes enables you to make much more in a lot of cases than being in front of the camera.

LMAO @ the Cacasian bracket. Learn how to spell what you claim to be. So necessary.

Posted at 1:36PM on Jun 6th 2007 by The Dog Catcher

18. Make sure you dispense that "stay away from drugs" message to the friendly neighborhood CAUCASIANS who are flipping out on TV and via the Net daily.

cc: Britney, Lindsey, Paris, and their circles of friends.

Posted at 1:44PM on Jun 6th 2007 by Nope To Dope, Ugggg To Drugs

19. #9 & #10: Please see the answer to the first question. Apparently, the publicists for folks you listed have the paps' phone numbers on their speed dial.

A money shot is a money shot whether it is Paris leaving jail or Brandy sitting behind the wheel of a wrecked car.

The only color the paps care about is Federal Green otherwise known as the color of money!

Posted at 2:00PM on Jun 6th 2007 by snarksnarksnark

20. tiger, tiger, burning bright...

Posted at 2:00PM on Jun 6th 2007 by catheadmoon

21. Paparazzi NEVER photogs black celebrities and that IS just a regular cigarette in his hand...

Posted at 2:11PM on Jun 6th 2007 by Cindy

22. Today on TMZ there are a few Blacks on the front page.

Faizon Love is being sued by a woman.
Oprah is talking about Ralph Lauren
Snoop Dogg's Booking photo
Dave Chappelle looking wide eyed and paranoid.

The race card game is as old as Go Fish.

Posted at 2:10PM on Jun 6th 2007 by On The Mark

23. You idiot don't you read the blogs? or just your own.
Just about everyone slams Paris and her crowd for their behaviors and miss use of their wealth.
If that is the best card you can play no wonder the game goes no where. Blacks mostly remain at a stand still depending on a that old card to justify their lack of desire to go to college or take advantage of opportunity's.

Posted at 2:28PM on Jun 6th 2007 by Let It Go And Grow

24. He is not paranoid, he is a comic. And most of you guys are idiots. The part about Comedy Central Spies was obviously a joke.

Posted at 2:49PM on Jun 6th 2007 by John C jackson

25. Dave Chapelle is a comic genius. Watch his re-runs. He's also a Black man. Until you wear that everyday, you can't begin to understand. No race card? Try the whole deck, people. I know you won't get it, but don't blast it.

Posted at 3:04PM on Jun 6th 2007 by You're Not Funny

26. Why do most of you out here make every story posted out here to be based on race. It can be a story on a green monster with one eye and that would be the talk of the day, not because he had one eye. It is because he is green. The debate would be," Is he more on the yellow side or blue side?" Well, if his mother is yellow and his father is blue, then the mother f***er is green. It is so sad to say yet it is true.

Posted at 3:14PM on Jun 6th 2007 by Caribbean Goddess

27. As usual Dave was telling the truth and certainly asked a question I had been wondering myself. How the hell do you know? I know you follow some of them 24 hours a day, and then force their every move down our throates, but how did you catch Dave? How did you catch Shemar drinking? Paps don't even follow Ray J and he is always up to something. At least Bobby gets attention. Paps don't care about blacks because many readers don't and even fewer publications are interested in them. Why not just say that?

Posted at 3:45PM on Jun 6th 2007 by Bird

28. Dave's dialogue with the photag was alot more cordial than most celebrities. He had the guy in stitches. He was funny, do you really think Dave takes himself that seriously. Do you really think he cares that white celebrities photos are worth more than black actors. the guy walked away from millions of dollars. how can you take dave chappelle serious. The clip was classic chappelle comedy. Some of you people get way too touchy about race. you automatically want to make everything an argument about race. Have a laugh and move on people.

Posted at 3:42PM on Jun 6th 2007 by Khamisi

29. Black celebrities engage in as much idiotic behaviour as white celebrities do. And, yes, Dave, TMZ and gossip magazines do report on them and do take their pictures.

I liked Chappelle's TV show a lot, but he's ridiculous on this one. Not everything is a black/white issue, and Comedy Central has moved on since you bolted.

Posted at 4:12PM on Jun 6th 2007 by Janeane The Acerbic Goblin

30. I saw Dave at the Metreon in S.F. 3 months ago and I asked for a picture and he said "no" =(

Posted at 4:52PM on Jun 6th 2007 by Maxine

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