Dave Chappelle And Netflix Issue Statements After On-Stage Attack

Comedian Dave Chappellewas attacked on Tuesday night while he was performing for the Netflix is a Joke comedy festival at the Hollywood Bowl.

Although Chappelle was thankfully not injured in the incident, NBC News Los Angeles reported that the Los Angeles Police Department took a 23-year-old man into custody and said that he had a replica gun “that can eject a knife blade” in his possession. The weapon somehow managed to get through a metal detector at the event.

On Wednesday, both Chappelle’s spokesperson and the Netflix streaming service made statements about the incident that were reported by Deadline.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Chappelle said that they did not want the incident to “overshadow the magic” of the comedy festival.

“Dave Chappelle celebrated four nights of comedy and music, setting record-breaking sales for a comedian at the Hollywood Bowl,” the statement said. “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,” the statement continued. “Other special comedic guests last night included Earthquake, Leslie Jones, Jeff Ross, Sebastian, Jon Stewart, and Michelle Wolf.”

A Netflix spokesperson also commented on the matter, saying, “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.”

BuzzFeed News reporter Brianna Sacks was actually at the event and posted a clip outside the venue.  “Just came out of the Hollywood Bowl where a man charged and tackled Dave Chappelle on stage and got his a—kicked by at least 10 people,” she reported. “LAPD and LAFD are now loading him into an ambulance.”

“The show was just ending when the man hopped onto stage and ran at Chapelle, form tackling him to the ground. The comedian had literally just said he now has more security because of all the uproar from his jokes about the Trans community,” she continued.

“Security et al rushed and started punching and kicking the shit out of Chapelle’s attacker. He was just about to bring on Talib Kweli and Mos Def for the encode and we in the crowd were like what the f--- is going on,” she went on. “Chapelle kept on while the guy was getting beat in the back.”

“Sheer chaos,” she noted. “Then Jamie Fox comes out in a cowboy hat, looking absolutely shocked, and Chapelle makes a joke about stomping the guy, who is still getting beat up. kweli and Mos Def do their set while LAPD cruisers start arriving behind the stage. F---ing wild.”

“When we got out of the Bowl and got our phones out, LAPD and medics were cordoning off the area and then loaded Chapelle’s attacker, who looked to be strapped in a jacket in a chair, into an ambulance. Members of the crowd cussed him out,” she added, showing more footage of the incident.

“What is really surreal about this is that Chapelle talked about Chris Rock and the slap/new reality facing comedians/having more security with him and his wife being worried about him now,” she added. “He did a whole bit about a crazy man coming to his house and chasing him down in his car.”

“While the attacked was getting beat up, Chapelle made a joke about him probably being a Trans man,” she said, attaching a clip of the event.

She concluded her Twitter thread by saying, “What was also wild was that Chris Rock performed at the #NetflixIsAJoke Chapelle show (he was fantastic) and joked about what happened to him. After Chapelle got attacked, he [came] on stage and they joked that it was Will Smith.”