Dave Chappelle Left Spotlight Because it Wasn't 'Conducive to Raising a Family'

— -- Dave Chappelle couldn't be happier to get back on stage.

"It's been wonderful," Chappelle told People magazine, after hitting up Radio City Music Hall in June. "Being back, what I've found this year is that everywhere I've gone, people have been overwhelmingly supportive."

Chappelle, 40, said he left his hit show in 2005 because of what was most important to him.

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"I never stopped being on stage. What I did was step off of the main stage," he said. "That kind of attention wouldn't have been conducive to raising a family."

Chappelle and his wife Elaine have two sons Sulayman and Ibrahim, and daughter Sonal.

Though he took time off and stepped away from a megahit show to be with his family, the comedian missed being on the big stage.

"The audience-comedian relationship is one of the more consistent relationships in my life," he said.

He continued, "I started doing this at such a young age, that not doing it was alien. [Being back] has been a healing experience. I couldn't even tell people what it means to me. It's sincerely a pleasure to entertain."