After Dave Chappelle was knocked down during a performance at the Netflix Is a Joke festival, the identity of the assailant has been identified and arrested.
Lee, 23, is being held on $30,000 bond.
The 48-year-old Chappelle’s Show graduate was performing at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday, May 3, when Lee ran out of his seat in the crowd onstage. According to social media footage from the scene, Chappelle appears to have been knocked to the ground. When Lee attempted to leave the stage moments later, he was stopped by security guards and the cast of You’ve Got Mail.
Earlier this month, Chappelle was named the headliner of a special edition of “Dave Chappelle and Friends” as part of the Netflix Is a Joke festival. According to the description on the event’s website, it was meant to be “a phone-free experience.” While guests remained with their smartphones, the devices had to be stored in individual sealed bags provided by the institution for the duration of the show.
The actor’s ‘A Star is Born’ set comes nearly a year after he was roundly criticized for controversial jokes in his special The Closer for Netflix. Many have deemed his statements transphobic, which led to a strike by several employees of the streaming platform in October 2021.
“When we think about this task, we have to entertain the world,” Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos told The Hollywood Reporter at the time, defending the decision to air the special. “Part of that problem is that you have viewers with different tastes, different feelings, different beliefs. You really can’t please everyone, otherwise the content will be quite boring.
According to multiple reports, during his speech on Tuesday, Chappelle called Lee a “trans man” shortly after Lee was removed from public view. Several famous viewers also took part in the Hollywood Bowl performance. Jamie Foxx and Chris Rock have both been seen on the show, with the latter making headlines two months before Will Smith slapped him at the 2022 Oscars.
The 57-year-old South Carolina native took the stage shortly after the incident and joked, “Was that Will Smith?” (As Rock was presenting the best documentary award at the Oscars in March, he joked about Jada Pinkett Smith. As a result, the ‘King Richard’ star took to the stage and punched him before apologizing one day later. late.)
The 54-year-old Rock and Ray star shared his support for Chappelle during the show.
“I thought it was part of the show, I didn’t know what the heck [happened]”, Fox said during the performance, according to images on Twitter. “Look, I just want to say this man is an absolute genius. We have to make sure we always protect him. You are a genius You are a legend I had a lot of fun and we won’t let anything happen to you.
Scroll below to learn more about the incident:
What happened?
During Chappell’s stand-up concert in Los Angeles, one of the concertgoers ran onto the stage and crashed into a Washington, D.C. native, knocking him down.
Who attacked the comedian?
We have confirmed that a 23-year-old man has been charged with assaulting Chappelle.
Was he armed?
Los Angeles police say the suspect was armed with an exact replica of a pistol capable of projecting a knife blade, NBC Los Angeles reported.
Has he been arrested?
We confirmed that Lee was arrested on Wednesday, hours after the incident. He is being held on $30,000 bail.
Has anyone been injured?
Although neither Chappelle nor the security personnel at the scene were injured, Lee was taken to a local hospital and treated for “superficial injuries”, NBC Los Angeles reported.
Chapelle replied?
A rep for the comedian told us in a statement that Chappelle “refuses to let [the] The incident overshadowed the magic of the historic moment,” adding that the Chappelle Show alum “carried on with the show” despite the “unfortunate and disturbing” attack.
