According to witnesses and videos of the incident released online, comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked during a performance in Los Angeles.
During his performance at the Netflix Is a Joke festival at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday night, someone ran on stage and tackled Chappelle. The event occurred when the comic was praising previous performers like Chris Rock, Leslie Jones, and Jon Stewart for their contributions to the show.
Chappelle, 48, appeared unharmed and returned to the stage to finish his set, joking to the audience that the attacker “was a trans man” – a reference to the uproar his gender comments had caused in the trans community.
Several security guards hit and kicked the attacker, according to Brianna Sacks, a writer for BuzzFeed News who tweeted about the incident. An anonymous man with a seriously damaged arm was subsequently seen being loaded into an ambulance on video.
According to Sacks, Hollywood actor Jamie Foxx appeared on stage after the event, looking “totally horrified,” and musicians Mos Def and Talib Kweli performed as LAPD vehicles approached the stage from behind.
The LAPD stated they had taken a guy into custody and that he was armed with a replica gun “that can eject a knife blade” when discharged correctly, according to NBC News Los Angeles. It is unknown whether the man attempted to use the weapon.
The assault came after Rock was smacked on stage at the Oscars by Will Smith after making a joke about the actor’s wife. Following the slap, some comedians questioned whether it was still safe to perform in public. Since the lockout, others have written about terrible crowd behavior.
