Chappelle will explain himself to Oprah

On Friday's show, comedian will discuss his sudden vanishing act

	Comedian Dave Chappelle on stage at New York's Laugh Factory in 2004. Last June, the comedian dropped in unannounced at two comedy clubs in Los Angeles, saying he felt like performing. His puzzling behavior has continued since.
Stuart Ramson / AP

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msnbc.com

updated 7:25 p.m. ET Feb. 1, 2006

Comedian Dave Chappelle, who shocked fans last year with his sudden disappearance and reports of a stint in a mental-health facility, will tell all to Oprah.

Chappelle, creator of a self-titled Comedy Central hit, will appear on Oprah Winfrey's talk show Friday to discuss “why he walked away from $50 million,” according to her Web site.

The comic signed a massive deal with the cable network for two more seasons of “Chappelle's Show,” and then mysteriously vanished last April, reportedly resurfacing in a South African mental-health facility just a month before the scheduled May 31 launch of his program's third season.

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He later returned to some stand-up comedy bookings, but the future of his cable show remains in limbo. One reporter who interviewed him during his South Africa stint said Chappelle's faith as a “practicing Muslim” had begun to clash with the increasingly raunchy, raw material he was penning for his program.

Comedy Central executives later made plans to air some completed sketches from the new season.

Winfrey's site promises that the comedian will answer “the big question ... will he go back to his show?”