Stand-up comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked while performing on stage Tuesday at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
Video footage shows a man rushing onto the stage and tackling the performer during the Netflix is a Joke comedy festival. The attacker is subsequently dragged off stage by security personnel.
Details of the incident are being pieced together as spectators’ mobile phones were supposed to have been confiscated before the event.
According to the snippets that have emerged so far, Chappelle appears to be largely unhurt and to have quickly regained his composure. “It was a trans man,” Chappelle says later.
Chappelle has been a controversial figure for his frequent jokes about the trans-sexual community and the perception that he is transphobic.
Actor Jamie Foxx is understood to have rushed on stage to help Chappelle and apprehend the attacker.
“Whenever you’re in trouble, Jamie Foxx will show up in a sheriff’s hat,” said quipped Chappelle at the show’s curtain call. Unconfirmed video shows Foxx responding “I thought that was part of the show.”
The incident has unfortunate echoes of Will Smith’s slap of another comedian Chris Rock delivered during the Oscars ceremony in March and will likely raise questions about freedom of speech and performer security.
In another unconfirmed phone video clip, Fox is heard to say, “Listen, I just want to say this man is an absolute genius. We’ve got to make sure we protect him at all times… For every comedian who comes out here, this means everything. You’re a genius. You’re a legend, and we’re not going to let nothing happen to you.”
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