Dave Chappelle was attacked on stage by an audience member while performing at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
The assailant, identified by TMZ as 23-year-old Isaiah Lee, allegedly had a replica gun and knife in his possession, and pointed the gun at Chappelle as he lunged at the comedian. Fortunately, Chappelle was able to mostly evade the man’s attempted tackle, and escaped the attack unharmed.
Members of Chappelle’s security immediately confronted the man and began punching and kicking him. Chappelle himself said he “stomped” the man backstage.
Lee was arrested and transported to a local hospital with “superficial injuries,” according to the Los Angeles Police Department. He has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon and is currently being held on $30,000 bond.
Prior to the attack, Chappelle reportedly commented during his set that he had increased security due to the controversy stemming from his jokes about the Trans community.
Chappelle finished his performance following the incident, and was joined on stage by Chris Rock — who himself was recently attacked by Will Smith at the 2022 Academy Awards. Rock reportedly joked that he initially thought it was Smith who attacked Chappelle.
Tuesday’s performance was part of the Netflix is a Joke Fest.
Someone just tried to attack Dave Chappelle on stage at the Hollywood Bowl 😳😳 pic.twitter.com/PZI3RMRdjD
— Piñata Farms 🪅 (@pinatafarms) May 4, 2022
The idiot getting beaten down after attacking Dave Chappelle at Hollywood Bowl pic.twitter.com/Ft0FIUyjWv
— Jed Simon (@JEDSIMON) May 4, 2022
Here is a video of the aftermath. #DaveChappelle handled this like a champ! #HollywoodBowl pic.twitter.com/0xaBpWsbrT
Advertisement— E5QUIRE (@e5quire) May 4, 2022
Definitely don’t tackle #DaveChappelle while he’s performing on stage 😬 pic.twitter.com/X0Lbi8ghsf
— AlexGB.sfm (@ab_a_w_p) May 4, 2022
