Comedian Dave Chappelle was assaulted on stage by a man holding a firearm on Tuesday night during a performance. Following the attack, the internet has been filled with captured footage shared by the audience at the Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl arena. The comic was performing his act at the Hollywood Bowl amphitheater as part of the Netflix Is a Joke: The Festival, which is supposed to take place from April 28 to May 8. Other acts included Leslie Jones, Jon Stewart, and , who recently encountered violence onstage during a joke in March.
In the viral footage, a man appears to run on stage toward the comic. Los Angeles Police confirmed early Wednesday that the weapon the man was carrying ejected a nife. However, as of now, it is still It is unclear if the fan attempted to use the weapon during the attack.
“The suspect produced what was later discovered to be a replica handgun and pointed the item at the victim,” police voiced a statement Wednesday afternoon. After the attack, Hollywood Bowl uniformed security officers confronted the suspect and removed him from the stage, taking him into custody.”
Before the suspect was turned in to the police, he was transported to the hospital for injuries. The attacker was identified as Isaiah Lee, who is 23 years old. Police communicated that he would be charged with a felony count of assault with a deadly weapon. Lee stands being held on a $30,000 bail.
Chappelle’s representative, Carla Sims, communicated that “Chappelle is fully cooperating with the active police investigation into this incident.”
“The performances by Chappelle at the Hollywood Bowl were epic and record-breaking and he refuses to allow last night’s incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment,” Sims spoke.
The audience took clips of what appeared to be the person who ambushed Chappelle, being confined beyond the venue by police and then taken into the ambulance with visible injuries.
While the entire debacle was captured in multiple videos shot by members of the audience, cellphone use was officially banned during the performance. The motivation behind the action still remained unclear.
Chappelle was onstage completing part of the “Netflix Is a Joke” comedy festival, supported by the streaming giant.
“We care deeply about creators’ safety and strongly defend the right of stand-up comedians to perform on stage without fear of violence,” a Netflix representative stated in a public statement.
Chappelle had brutal backlash from the transgender community for jokes performing offensive jokes, which were featured in his latest Netflix special, “The Closer,” which premiered in October. However, the platform continued to air the special regardless of hundreds of employees orchestrating a walkout over what they deemed Chappelle’s offensive transphobic jokes.
“To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience, but you will not summon me. I am not bending to anybody’s demands,” he briefed an audience on a clip later posted to his Instagram during a time on stage.
The 48-year-old jokester recorded three requirements for any possible meeting on the matter as a response to a fellow comedian Hannah Gadsby, who marked Chapelle’s Netflix performance as a “hate speech.”
His conditions stated,
“If you wanna meet with me, I’d be more than willing to, but I have conditions: First of all, you cannot come if you have not watched my special from beginning to end. You must come to a place of my choosing and a time of my choosing. And thirdly, you must admit that Hannah Gadsby is not funny.”
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