US comedian Chappelle 'exhausted'

Chappelle has a made a successful comeback to stand-up comedy

US comedian Dave Chappelle has been treated in hospital for exhaustion, his publicist has said.

The 33-year-old sought treatment in an emergency department but was released a few hours later and is now "fine".

"It was exhaustion, he had been travelling," said Carla Sims, who declined to give any further details.

Chappelle quit his Comedy Central show in 2005 and went to South Africa. He denied being treated in a psychiatric facility during his stay there.

He said in a subsequent interview on the Oprah Winfrey Show that he had left the US to reflect on his career, and that his working environment was "incredibly stressful".

The comic began his self-titled programme in 2003, but walked away from a $55m (£26.8m) contract, claiming he was unhappy with the direction the show had taken.

Chappelle returned to the stand-up circuit in the US, breaking an endurance record in April at Los Angeles' Laugh Factory with a routine exceeding six hours.