Last night, comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked as he was finishing his standup act at the Hollywood Bowl in LA. The man who attacked Chappelle, who was later identified as 23-year-old Isaiah Lee, had a fake gun that contained a blade. The entire incident was captured by an audience member and is now going viral online. Now, many are wondering what the intentions were behind the attacker and what could have happened.
VIDEO: Dave Chappelle attacked onstage during comedy show at Hollywood Bowl. https://t.co/OQgcXwvCbS pic.twitter.com/JhHzNOtTsJ
— ExtraTV (@extratv) May 4, 2022
The attack took place at the Netflix is a Joke festival, and after Chappelle and his attacker scuffled for a few seconds as Chappelle gets away and the man is removed, he continues to make jokes. According to a Buzzfeed reporter, “Chapelle kept on while the guy was getting beat in the back.” Ironically, the reporter says that part of Chappelle’s routine was needing more security as a comedian, and linking it back to Chris Rock, who was slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars in March, and who also happened to be at the show.
What is really surreal about this is that Chapelle talked about Chris Rock and the slap/new reality facing comedians/having more security with him and his wife being worried about him now. He did a whole bit about a crazy man coming to his house and chasing him down in his car
— Brianna Sacks (@bri_sacks) May 4, 2022
Last year, Dave Chappelle was in the middle of a controversy after he made some comments about transgender people in his Netflix special “The Closer.” From that, many employees walked out, as they thought that the special was offensive and should not have been defended by Netflix. Chappelle joked that between that controversy and the Chris Rock slap, he had to have more security. After the assault, he made a joke that his attacker was a “trans man.”
Nothing about the Dave Chappelle attack is fun. The attack itself. The beatdown. The “trans man” quip. The reaction on twitter. It all just sucks.
— Washington Post TikTok Dad (@davejorgenson) May 4, 2022
Although Chappelle was the one attacked, many were concerned with how the attacker looked after being removed by security. In a video captured by an audience member, his elbow seems to be twisted at an odd angle, with many witnesses saying that he was beaten by security and taken to the hospital. Still, many believed that it could have been avoided if the man had not chosen to attack Chappelle.
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Some dude tackled Dave Chappelle on stage and that dude got stomped out forthwith. They took his arm off and put it back on backwards. That’s what he get. This attacking people on stage aint gon fly.
— Tony Baker (@TonyBakercomedy) May 4, 2022
https://twitter.com/AeliaMeth/status/1521736946006986752?s=20&t=LrMSUavxG9R9XY-hClWN6w
Although the motive of the attack is not clear, many on Twitter worried about the jokes that centered trans people being the ones attacking. Others did not feel the joke was harmful, as Chappelle was trying to make light of the attack to reassure the crowd. The attacker has now been charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
