David Khari Webber Chappelle ( shə-PEL; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and former sketch comedian. He debuted his half-hour TV special in 1998 and his hour-long TV special in 2000. He co-created and starred in the sketch comedy series Chappelle's Show (2003–2006) on Comedy Central before quitting in the middle of production of the third season. After a hiatus, Chappelle returned to performing stand-up comedy across the United States. By 2006, Chappelle was called the "comic genius of America" by Esquire magazine and, in 2013, "the best" by a Billboard writer. In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked him No. 9 in their "50 Best Stand Up Comics of All Time".
Chappelle has appeared in various films, including Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), The Nutty Professor (1996), Con Air (1997), You've Got Mail (1998), Blue Streak (1999), Undercover Brother (2002), Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005), Chi-Raq (2015), and A Star Is Born (2018). His first lead role was in the 1998 comedy film Half Baked, which he co-wrote. Chappelle also starred in the ABC comedy series Buddies (1996).