The comic was assaulted throughout his Tuesday stand-up present as a part of the Netflix Is a Joke pageant on Tuesday night time.
Dave Chappelle doesn't need the viewers member who assaulted him onstage to distract from his history-making run on the Hollywood Bowl.
“The performances by Chappelle on the Hollywood Bowl have been epic and record-breaking and he refuses to permit final night time’s incident to overshadow the magic of this historic second,” his rep, Carla Sims, stated in an announcement on Wednesday to The Hollywood Reporter. “Dave Chappelle celebrated 4 nights of comedy and music, setting record-breaking gross sales for a comic on the Hollywood Bowl. This run ties Chappelle with Monty Python for essentially the most headlined exhibits by any comic on the Hollywood Bowl, reaching 70,000 followers of various backgrounds throughout the first Netflix Is A Joke: The Competition.”
The comic was assaulted throughout his Netflix Is a Joke Fest set on the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday round 10:40 p.m. native time when a person rushed the stage and tackled him to the ground. Chappelle had completed his act and was exiting the stage, the LAPD stated in an up to date assertion on Wednesday, when the viewers member jumped onto the stage, tackled the comic and pointed a duplicate handgun at Chappelle. Safety separated the viewers member from Chappelle and took him into custody.
It wasn’t instantly clear if there was an try and discharge the weapon, however authorities confirmed Chappelle was not bodily injured within the incident.
The suspect, later recognized as Isaiah Lee, 23, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a lethal weapon, transported to an area hospital the place he was handled for accidents sustained throughout the altercation with safety, and is presently being held on $30,000 bail.
Chappelle is absolutely cooperating with the lively police investigation.
“As unlucky and unsettling because the incident was,” continued his rep within the assertion, “Chappelle went on with the present. Jamie Foxx and Chris Rock helped calm the gang with humor earlier than Chappelle launched the final and featured musical company for the night, hip-hop artists yasiin bey and Talib Kweli, aka Black Star, who carried out music from their new album — the primary in almost 24 years — which was launched on Luminary. Different particular comedic company final night time included Earthquake, Leslie Jones, Jeff Ross, Sebastian, Jon Stewart and Michelle Wolf.”
Netflix added in an announcement: “We care deeply concerning the security of creators and we strongly defend the proper of stand-up comedians to carry out on stage with out concern of violence.”
Attendees had captured the second on social media, with footage exhibiting the person being dragged away by safety and Chappelle regaining his composure shortly after the assault by saying, “It was a trans man.” (The road is a reference to his ongoing controversy surrounding his materials being known as transphobic.)
Chappelle was performing as a part of Netflix’s 11-day stand-up comedy pageant, which options 130 comics throughout 25 Los Angeles venues and large names resembling Seth Rogen, Chelsea Handler, Aziz Ansari, Invoice Burr and Conan O’Brien.
The onstage assault comes weeks after Will Smith unexpectedly took to the Oscars stage and slapped presenter Chris Rock. The stunning incident has had quite a few profession repercussions for Smith, who resigned from the Movie Academy however was nonetheless banned from the Academy Awards for 10 years. The second additionally sparked a nationwide dialogue across the security of comics.
One other current onstage safety breach occurred at CinemaCon, when actress-director Olivia Wilde was served custody papers from ex Jason Sudeikis whereas presenting her upcoming film Don’t Fear Darling.
Attendees at Chappelle’s Tuesday night time present have been required to examine their cellphones in Yondr pouches to create a “phone-free expertise”; it’s unclear how some attendees have been capable of document the incident.
Tuesday night time’s occasion was Chappelle’s fourth night time on the Hollywood Bowl, the place he’s been performing with varied comedians and musicians and was the fest’s opening night time headliner on April 28. At that earlier present, company needed to undergo safety and metallic detectors on the way in which inside.
When reached by THR, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Affiliation, which operates the Hollywood Bowl, was unable to remark concerning the incident amid the lively investigation.
Might 4, 1:20 p.m. Up to date to incorporate LAPD assertion particulars.