Whatever happens in Vegas won't include Dave Chappelle, apparently.
The outspoken comedian has scrapped a performance at Las Vegas' Comedy Festival scheduled for Thursday at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, according to a message on Ticketmaster's Website.
Instead, late-night comic Bill Maher will fill in for Chappelle at the second annual shindig, which is being sponsored by HBO and AEG Live and runs Nov. 14 through Nov. 18. The scathing political satirist was set to follow the funnyman, but will now perform an extended version of his stand-up bit.
No reason was given for the cancellation, and reps for HBO and Chappelle could not be reached for comment. Refunds are available at points of purchase.
The comic did turn up for last year's inaugural Comedy Fest, which saw a who's who of jokesters take the stage, among them Sarah Silverman, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, George Lopez, Wanda Sikes, Kathy Griffin, Dane Cook and Lewis Black.
Aside from performances, tributes and sketch comedy routines, a highlight at this year's event will be Comic Relief 2006, which is back after an eight-year absence. The comedy world's most famous benefit will take place Saturday, Nov. 18, and will again be cohosted by Robin Williams, Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg and air live on both HBO and TBS. Money raised will assist families recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
By this point, Chappelle's loyal fans are used to their idol killing them softly.
The Washington D.C.-born comic, famed for his hilarious, racy bits on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show, surprised everyone when he walked away from his namesake series and a $50 million deal with the cable network at the height of his fame in May 2005, just when some of his characters' favorite catchphrases, such as "I'm Rick James, bitch," had worked their way into the cultural lexicon.
After his mysterious disappearance, he surfaced in Africa on what he claimed was a spiritual retreat—not rehab or a psych facility, as some early media reports speculated. Chappelle later turned up on The Oprah Winfrey Show and in the pages of Esquire and explained himself, saying he felt he needed to maintain his creative integrity and expressing discomfort regarding the way his racially charged jokes were going over with white members of his audience.
"The bottom line was: White people own everything," Chappelle told Esquire at the time. "And where can a black person go and be himself or say something that's familiar to him and not have to explain or apologize?"
After lying low, Chappelle eased back into the spotlight, performing sporadic stand-up gigs around the country. Last spring, he released Dave Chappelle's Block Party, the Michel Gondry-directed documentary that chronicled his celeb-studded neighborhood shindig in Brooklyn with such party guests as Kanye West, Mos Def, Erykah Badu and a reunited Fugees.
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