Dave Chappelle was tackled onstage by an audience member while performing at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles as part of the Netflix Is a Joke comedy festival.
The comedian was drawing close to the end of his set, when the man, who has since been identified by Los Angeles Police as Isaiah Lee, charged towards him carrying a replica gun that can eject a blade, according to LAPD. Lee was apprehended by security. According to reports, Jamie Foxx, Busta Rhymes and potentially Chappelle himself were among those who also confronted the attacker backstage.
After the incident, Chappelle returned onstage and joked about the altercation, thanking Foxx. “Whenever you’re in trouble, Jamie Foxx will show up in a sheriff’s hat,” he said.
Here is a video of the aftermath. #DaveChappelle handled this like a champ! #HollywoodBowl pic.twitter.com/0xaBpWsbrT
— E5QUIRE (@e5quire) May 4, 2022
After Chapelle got attacked, Chris Rock came on stage and hit us with possibly the joke of the year “was that Will Smith?” pic.twitter.com/ldWQ3h0eln
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 4, 2022
Chris Rock, who had performed earlier, appeared onstage alongside Chappelle and joked, “Was that Will Smith?” Chappelle replied, “It was a trans man,” a reference to the backlash over the comedian’s frequent use of transphobic material in recent years. According to Pitchfork, shortly before the attack, he had joked about needing more security during to controversy over his material.
In footage posted to Twitter, Lee can be seen heavily injured and being carried out on a gurney while being booed by those outside, before being taken to hospital.
Just came out of the Hollywood Bowl where a man charged and tackled Dave Chapelle on stage and got his ass kicked by at least 10 people.
LAPD and LAFD are now loading him into an ambulance pic.twitter.com/7SXPe9e8az
— Brianna Sacks (@bri_sacks) May 4, 2022
Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli, who perform together as Black Star and recently released their first album in 24 years, and also co-host a podcast with Chappelle, performed a set immediately after the incident.
Lee has since been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon. In a statement, a representative for Netflix commented: “We care deeply about the safety of creators and we strongly defend the right of stand-up comedians to perform on stage without fear of violence.”
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