Dave Chappelle was attacked on Tuesday during a performance at The Hollywood Bowl. On May 3rd, Chappelle was doing something he’s done probably thousands of times. This time, it wasn’t business as usual.
At some point during the set, Chappelle was tackled by a man, identified in news reports as 23-year-old Isaiah Lee. Lee allegedly rushed the stage and tackled Chappelle to the floor. Upon further inspection, it was revealed that Lee was carrying a weapon.
According to NBC News, The weapon had somehow managed to make it past security, and although no one was seriously injured, things could have ended badly. The weapon itself was some kind of mock gun, which contained a concealed blade that comes out of the muzzle. Lee is now in police custody.
Dave Chappelle was actually in the middle of filming a segment for Dave Chappelle and Friends, a show hosted by Netflix. Apparently, both security guards and patrons of the venue rushed the stage after they saw what happened. The scuffle lasted for a few minutes before the dust finally settled.
Chappelle seemed to be in good spirits after the incident, reportedly quipping that the assailant “was a trans man.” These kinds of comments have landed him in hot water before, but at this time, since there’s no real news on why the attack happened, we can’t say for sure if the recent discourse surrounding Chappelle’s controversial standup material about the transgender community had anything to do with it.
We can say, however, that comedians have been having a rough go of it lately. This incident comes on the heels of the now-infamous slapping incident at the 94th Academy Awards between Will Smith and Chris Rock. This could be the start of a disconcerting trend.
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