Dave Chappelle

6 of 9
 
Tension on the Chappelle's Show set went from bad to worse during the third season, Dave says. After filming the pixie sketch, Dave says he considered walking away from his hit TV show.

Rumors about problems on the set began circulating in the media. One story said Dave had pneumonia, while another reported that he was suffering from writer's block. Dave says those stories were fabricated.

Then Dave decided to disappear. "I knew I was going to leave," he says. "The only reason I didn't leave sooner was because I knew they were going to say, 'He couldn't finish his show.' So I got ahead of schedule, and I bounced."

Before Dave boarded a flight to Africa, he called his brother to give him a list of people to call once he was gone.

He admits that not telling his wife before he left was wrong. "It wasn't that I didn't tell my wife," he explains. "It was [more] like, 'I'm not telling her until after I'm gone.' Which was a mistake, but it wasn't a crazy mistake."