Dave Chappelle’s Onstage Attacker Identified by Authorities

Police have arrested Dave Chappelle’s attacker after the comedian was tackled onstage Tuesday night by a man who rushed the stage during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. In videos shared to social media by audience members, you can see the suspect, identified as 23-year-old Isaiah Lee by police, run onto the stage before leveling Chappelle and being removed by security officers.

Lee has been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson told NBC News Wednesday; his bail was set at $30,000. Lee was allegedly armed with a replica gun that police said was capable of ejecting a real knife blade when discharged, but it’s unclear if Lee made an attempt to use the weapon during the attack on Chappelle.

Police said Lee was in the audience before jumping on stage and attacking Chappelle, who was performing at the Netflix Is A Joke Festival. It’s unclear how Lee was able to bring the weapon into the venue. Security guards at the event did detain Lee, who police said sustained superficial injuries during the altercation and was taken to a hospital. Chappelle was not injured in the attack, according to authorities. 

Chappelle did continue the show, according to The Hollywood Reporter, joking about the attacker, “It was a trans man.” Lee’s gender identity was not immediately known, but Chappelle reportedly had made reference to having to ramp up his security detail after making comments about the transgender community that garnered widespread backlash.

People online were quick to compare Chappelle’s attack to the 2022 Oscars slap, in which Will Smith got on stage and slapped Chris Rock for making a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, a result of her alopecia. Rock was actually in attendance at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday, and reportedly made a joke about the incident before Chappelle was tackled. After the attack, Rock also came on stage to reference his experience at the Academy Awards, joking that the suspect was “maybe being Will Smith.” He continued, “You know, they were like, ‘Is that Will Smith?’”