Dave Chappelle Attacked Onstage by Armed Man While Performing at L.A.’s Hollywood Bowl

Comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked onstage by an armed man Tuesday night as he performed at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl arena, with videos from audience members’ cellphones quickly flooding social media and showing a man appear to run onto the stage and tackle the comic. The Los Angeles Police Department told CBS Los Angeles a 23-year-old man armed with a replica handgun that contained a knife blade was arrested and accused of assault with a deadly weapon.

Police identified the suspect to CBS Los Angeles as Isaiah Lee of Los Angeles and said he was being held on $30,000 bail. Chappelle was not injured in the attack.

Chappelle, whose unapologetic humor has made him a lightning rod for criticism, appeared unscathed by the sudden interruption and later joked (Note: Linked video contains harsh language including profanity) with fellow comedian and actor Jamie Foxx onstage that he’d taken revenge on his attacker.

Videos posted to Twitter appeared to show the person who charged Chappelle being detained outside the venue by police and then loaded into an ambulance with visible injuries. Police told CBS Los Angeles the suspect was taken to a hospital but didn’t know his condition.

Witnesses said — and videos appeared to show — that the man was set upon by multiple people onstage immediately after he attacked Chappelle.

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The motivation for the initial attack remained unclear.

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Someone attacked Dave Chappelle at his show and his security team left that man looking like Mojo JoJo. pic.twitter.com/pna2642x7G

— NUFF (@nuffsaidny) May 4, 2022