While performing at the Netflix Is a Joke: The Festival at the Hollywood Bowl, Dave Chappelle was attacked on stage. According to NBC 4, the man who attacked Chappelle was carrying a replica gun.
According to Los Angeles Police, the weapon, when discharged correctly, can eject a knife blade. It has not been confirmed if the attacker attempted to use the weapon when he rushed Chappelle.
Several videos of the attack show the suspect claiming onto the stage and running toward Chappelle. Chappelle can reportedly be seen falling to the ground as people from backstage rush to help him.
Neither Chappelle nor the responding officers were injured in the attack. However, the attacker was taken away on a stretcher. NBC 4 reports that one of the videos shows that the attacker’s elbow appeared bent at an “odd angle.”
This is a video of the aftermath of the attack. It was shared by BuzzFeed News reporter, Brianna Sacks.
According to Sacks’ account of the attack, which she shared on Twitter, the attack occurred just as Chappelle’s set was ending. “The show was just ending when the man [hopped] onto [the] stage and ran at Chapelle, form tackling him to the ground. The comedian had literally just said he now has more security because of all the uproar from his jokes about the Trans community.”
“Security et al rushed and started punching and kicking the sh*t out of Chapelle’s attacker,” Sacks continued. “He was just about to bring on Talib Kweli and Mos Def for the encode and we in the crowd were like what the f*ck is going on. Chapelle kept on while the guy was getting beat in the back.”
The identity of the attacker has since been reported as 23-year-old Isaiah Lee. He has been charged with a felony count of assault with a deadly weapon. He is being held in lieu of $30,000 bail.
Chappelle wasn’t the only comedian performing at the Hollywood Bowl the night of the attack. Chappelle’s show went on with him joking that his attacker was likely “a trans man.”
The reason for the suspect’s attack has not been made clear to the public. It has also not been confirmed if the man who attacked Chappelle is transgender or not.
As it’s been reported, Chappelle allegedly had to up his security protocol following the backlash he received over past jokes he’s made about the transgender community.
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Sacks further reported on Twitter that Chris Rock also appeared on stage following the attack to make his own joke saying, “Was that Will Smith?” As Mamas Uncut has reported, Rock has recently had his own experience with onstage violence after Will Smith slapped him in the face while presenting on the Oscar stage.
“What was also wild was that Chris Rock performed at the #NetflixIsAJoke Chapelle show (he was fantastic) and joked about what happened to him,” Sacks tweeted. “After Chapelle got attacked, he [came] on stage and they joked that it was Will Smith.”