Photo: Dave Chappelle at the Toronto International Film Festival, Sept. 9, 2018 (John Bauld, Creative Commons) https://www.flickr.com/photos/themollusk/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
An armed man bum-rushed comedian Dave Chappelle during a comedy show on May 3 in Los Angeles, drawing comparisons to Will Smith, who slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage at the Academy Awards on March 27.
Smith walked on stage and slapped Rock after the Oscars host cracked a joke about Smith’s wife, actress Jada Pinkett Smith. Will Smith has been accused of setting a dangerous precedent.
The man who attacked Chappelle was an audience member, and during the performance, he rushed onto the stage and tackled the 48-year-old stand-up comedian.
The suspect had a replica handgun containing a knife blade in his possession when he attacked Chappelle, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson said.
Chappelle fell on the stage but was uninjured, according to reports.
The assailant was identified as 23-year-old Los Angeles native Isaiah Lee, a resident of a local homeless shelter, SportSkeeda reported.
Videos shot by the audience showed Chappelle’s security team beating and stomping Lee before taking him offstage. Lee was later escorted out of the event on a stretcher and appeared to have a broken arm. There were also injuries on his face and other areas.
Lee was later detained with a $30,000 bail, according to LAPD records. He was taken to the hospital to get treated for his injuries.
Lee was charged on Wednesday with felony assault with a deadly weapon.
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The Incident occurred during Chappelle’s encore performance in the “Netflix Is A Joke Fest” event at the Hollywood Bowl. The event was a sold-out appearance as part of the 11-day festival, featuring many leading names in stand-up comedy, Reuters reported.
After the attack, Chappelle continued with the show, ad-libbing jokes about the incident and about what had happened to the suspect.
Chappelle said it was fortunate his assailant was “clumsy,” adding, “He’s back there getting stomped,” according to video footage of the altercation posted online by the celebrity news website TMZ.com.
Photo: Dave Chappelle at the Toronto International Film Festival, Sept. 9, 2018 (John Bauld, Creative Commons) https://www.flickr.com/photos/themollusk/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
