Dave Chappelle was attacked onstage last night (May 3) during a stand-up show for the Netflix Is a Joke festival at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl, and thankfully, Chris Rock was on hand to immediately make a Will Smith joke.
Despite attendees' phones having been confiscated at the gate for the show, some sparse footage is circulating online of an individual tackling Chappelle during his set. The attacker was reportedly corralled by security (and possibly comedian Jamie Foxx, according to Deadline) and was taken into custody.
Later identified as 23-year-old Isaiah Lee, the suspect was allegedly armed with a knife-shaped gun [via ABC News]. Lee is currently being held on $30,000 USD bail for suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.
Seemingly uninjured, Chappelle returned to the stage after the incident and — true to his famously transphobic form, having proudly called himself a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) in his controversial 2021 Netflix comedy special The Closer — reportedly joked that the assailant was a "trans man." Rock, who had performed earlier in the evening, apparently joined him onstage and quipped, "Was that Will Smith?"
Smith was recently banned from attending the Oscars for the next 10 years after dolling out the onscreen slap heard 'round the world to Rock at this year's Academy Awards.
You can watch the brief clip of Chappelle being attacked below, as well as a bit of the aftermath.
Despite attendees' phones having been confiscated at the gate for the show, some sparse footage is circulating online of an individual tackling Chappelle during his set. The attacker was reportedly corralled by security (and possibly comedian Jamie Foxx, according to Deadline) and was taken into custody.
Later identified as 23-year-old Isaiah Lee, the suspect was allegedly armed with a knife-shaped gun [via ABC News]. Lee is currently being held on $30,000 USD bail for suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.
Seemingly uninjured, Chappelle returned to the stage after the incident and — true to his famously transphobic form, having proudly called himself a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) in his controversial 2021 Netflix comedy special The Closer — reportedly joked that the assailant was a "trans man." Rock, who had performed earlier in the evening, apparently joined him onstage and quipped, "Was that Will Smith?"
Smith was recently banned from attending the Oscars for the next 10 years after dolling out the onscreen slap heard 'round the world to Rock at this year's Academy Awards.
You can watch the brief clip of Chappelle being attacked below, as well as a bit of the aftermath.
