Black Habits - Chappelle may return to show

(REUTERS) Comedian Dave Chappelle said Friday he walked away from his hit cable TV show because he felt stressed out and manipulated but would return if more of the show’s revenue can be given to deserving causes.

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, billed as his first since he stunned the entertainment industry last April by abandoning Chappelle’s Show after signing a $50-million US contract, Chappelle denied he was crazy, had been on drugs or spent time in an African psychiatric hospital.

Winfrey asked him if he had “lost his mind” when he left the show, which was the top-rated attraction on the Comedy Central cable network. “No, not exactly,” he said. “When you’re a person who makes money, they have a vested interest in controlling you.”

And while Chappelle enjoyed being famous, he said, “It’s the way people around you position themselves around you to get in your pockets and your mind ... it infuriates me.”

Asked if he would return to his show, Chappelle said: “I want to restructure the deal ... Half of the DVD revenue, if we can make a deal where I have the control of that, that I like, and half the DVD revenue goes back to the people that we see fit, I think I’d be more than willing to finish with where we started ... I’m not mad at anybody.”

DVDs from the show’s first two seasons have been top sellers. “I just want to do my show, I want want to have fun again,” Chappelle said.

“I want to give money to someone who’s not exploiting me,” he added, so that if he does something “socially irresponsible” in his comedy, at least the money will go to a socially responsible cause. He specifically mentioned victims of Hurricane Katrina as deserving of his charity.

When he left for Africa, Chappelle said he told no one except his brother, who he asked to notify others, including his wife and children.

He chose Africa as a destination, he said, because he “needed a break” and it was “a place where I could really reflect.”