Isaiah Lee, 23 is the young man that attacked Dave Chappelle during his performance at the Hollywood Bowl. Police arrested Lee, after he pointed a replica handgun at Chappelle, and charged him with assault with a deadly weapon.
Who Attacked Dave Chappelle On Stage?
A 23 year old man Isaiah Lee was arrested by the police for attacking Dave Chappelle while he was performing on stage.
According to ABC News, the man who attacked comedian Dave Chappelle on stage at the Hollywood Bowl carried a knife shaped like a gun when he was apprehended.
After attacking Chappelle during his performance, Isaiah Lee, 23, was arrested Tuesday night. The moment the man raced on stage and tackled Chappelle was caught on camera by a mobile camera in the audience. The comic slumped back, but was able to free himself swiftly as security came out to apprehend the assailant.
Chappelle and the man reportedly fought on the stage floor, according to ABC News. Security personnel surrounded and tackled the man in the stage’s back corner.
Chappelle appeared to sprint toward the scuffle, declaring that the man was being “stomped” and repeatedly requesting that security remove the man from the stage.
The attacker was seen on a trolley being placed into an ambulance to be brought to a hospital for unspecified injuries, according to exclusive footage from AIR7 HD.
According to LAPD booking records, Lee was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and is being held on $30,000 bail. It’s unknown what prompted Lee to rush onto the stage or how he got the weapon into the stadium.
Chappelle’s spokesperson issued a statement on Wednesday, calling the incident “unfortunate and unsettling” but insisting that the incident will not overshadow his record-breaking performance at the Hollywood Bowl.
She stated that the comic went on with his show and collaborated with Jamie Foxx and Chris Rock to use humor to try calm the crowd. He is helping the police with their investigation into the incident.
Spokesperson Carla Sims’ statement reads:
“Dave Chappelle celebrated four nights of comedy and music, setting record-breaking sales for a comedian at the Hollywood Bowl. This run ties Chappelle with Monty Python for the most headlined shows by any comedian at the Hollywood Bowl, reaching 70k fans of diverse backgrounds during the first Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival, and he refuses to allow last night’s incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment.”
“As unfortunate and unsettling as the incident was, Chappelle went on with the show. Jamie Foxx and Chris Rock helped calm the crowd with humor before Chappelle introduced the last and featured musical guests for the evening, hip-hop artists yasiin bey and Talib Kweli, a.k.a. Black Star, who performed music from their new album – the first in nearly 24 years – which was released on Luminary. Other special comedic guests last night included Earthquake, Leslie Jones, Jeff Ross, Sebastian, Jon Stewart and Michelle Wolf.”
A spokesperson for Netflix also issued a brief statement: “We care deeply about the safety of creators and we strongly defend the right of stand-up comedians to perform on stage without fear of violence.”
The comedian was not injured in the attack and later joked with the audience about it.
Comedian Chris Rock, who performed earlier in the night, came on stage with Chappelle moments after the attack and joked: “Was that Will Smith?”