Dave Chappelle says he’s not crazy, he’s not in a mental institution, he’s not addicted to drugs, and he doesn’t have a problem with a partying lifestyle.

Chappelle spoke publicly this weekend for the first time since he “disappeared” last week and denied reports that he entered a mental health facility.

Speaking with Time Magazine, Chappelle says he went to South Africa on a “spiritual retreat” as his show, Chappelle’s Show, was suspended indefinitely by Comedy Central.

“Let me tell you the things I can do here which I can’t at home: think, eat, sleep, laugh,” he told the magazine. “I’m an introspective dude. I enjoy my own thoughts sometimes. And I’ve been doing a lot of thinking here.”

He says he visited a physiatrist for one 40-minute session, just to make sure he was sane.

“You hear so many voices jockeying for position in your mind that you want to make sure that you hear your own voice,” Chappelle said. “So I figured, let me just cut myself off from everybody, take a minute and pull a Flintstone ? stop a speeding car by using my bare feet as the brakes.”

He says he hopes to return working on the show when he returns, but didn’t say when he plans to leave South Africa.






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