Chappelle âfelt goodâ his friends broke attackerâs arm, but not everyoneâs laughing

Even if Dave Chappelle was shaken after being attacked by a man onstage at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday, he continued to joke about the shocking incident at the show and reportedly at its after-party.
The controversial âThe Closerâ star, who was not injured during the attack, continued to quip about it after the show at a gathering at the Pendry Hotel in West Hollywood, according to audio obtained and posted online by TMZ.
âI felt good my friends broke his arm. I felt good. How bad does a nâ have to be that Jon Stewart would stomp him!â Chappelle cracked. Isaiah Lee, 23, was arrested at the amphitheater and taken away from the venue in an ambulance with his arm disfigured.
A comic seated up front says he warned security after seeing the suspect jump a barricade. âIt could have been prevented,â Tehran Von Ghasri said.
The former âDaily Showâ host Stewart attended the âDave Chappelle and Friendsâ show but didnât appear to be involved in the melee, which unfolded onstage in front of the audience during a performance that was part of the Netflix Is a Joke comedy festival.
While Chappelle, 48, immediately joked with the Bowl attendees that he was âgoing to kill that mââ who tackled him, he toned it down at the after-party.
Hours after county prosecutors declined to file felony charges, the city attorney announced four misdemeanor counts against the suspect.
âKilling that nâ would have been stupid,â the Emmy winner said, thanking the âvery powerful friendsâ who did get involved. Actor and comedian Jamie Foxx and rapper Busta Rhymes allegedly had a hand in subduing Lee during the bizarre turn of events.
The sentiment appeared to echo the statement that Chappelleâs spokeswoman released Wednesday: âHe refuses to allow [Tuesdayâs] incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment.â
Still, the incident heightened concern over performer safety and event security among fellow comedians and high-profile figures, many of whom were still reeling from actor Will Smith slapping presenter Chris Rock at the Oscars in March. Rock, who performed earlier during Chappelleâs Tuesday gig, returned to the stage immediately after the attack Tuesday and earned a huge laugh when he quipped that the assailant was Smith.
A number of cameras captured the moment Dave Chappelle was tackled Tuesday night at the Hollywood Bowl. Here is a reconstructed timeline of events.
While those involved leaned into the levity of the situation, others such as Howard Stern, Howie Mandel and the hosts of ABCâs âThe View,â did not.
âThis guy jumped on stage and attacked Dave Chappelle,â shock-jock host Stern said on âThe Howard Stern Showâ Wednesday, calling out hypocrisy in âfâ up Hollywood.â
âListen! You donât treat Will Smith any different than they did the Chappelle attacker,â he continued, via People. âThe audience at the Oscars gave Will Smith a standing ovation after the attack, thatâs the truth. Itâs on film, itâs not fake news. They didnât break Willâs hands, they shook âem. And thatâs wrong and they all should be ashamed of themselves.â
Comedian Dave Chappelle ârefuses to allow last nightâs incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment,â his spokeswoman told The Times.
âDeal or No Dealâ host Howie Mandel told E! Newsâ Daily Pop Wednesday that what happened at the Oscars âopened the floodgatesâ and he believed the violence could signal âthe beginning of the end for comedy.â
âWeâre already as comedians being attacked as far as being canceled for something that you donât like, something that you find offensive, something that you think is too soon,â he said. âThat hit ⊠no pun intended ⊠that hit very deeply. ... Watching what happened to Dave last night confirmed my fear. I was watching it kind of live on Twitter and I turned to my wife and I said, âI donât want to. I donât want to go on stage. Iâm just really afraid.ââ
âThe Viewâ co-host Whoopi Goldberg opened a panel discussion about Chappelle and Rock on Wednesday with a broad question about confrontational violence: âWhat do you think is happening? I mean, itâs happening on airplanes, itâs happening on street corners.â
Panelist Joy Behar cited contributing factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid crisis and âthe fact that [Donald] Trump was out there saying things like, âJust knock the hell out of them. I promise you Iâll pay for the legal fees,â when he had a heckler.â She added that Smith slapping Rock at the Oscars âwas the piĂšce de rĂ©sistance, as it were,â but applauded how the comedians handled Tuesdayâs incident by going on with the show.
Although guest panelist Lindsey Granger tried to move the conversation away from politics to security, co-host Sunny Hostin asserted, âI do think Trump unleashed some incivility, at least, in our country.â
Although itâs still unclear why Lee attacked Chappelle, LAPD said that they found that Lee, an aspiring rapper, had recorded a song called âDave Chappelle.â According to the New York Post, Lee also recorded a song called âMaga My Nââ on which he appeared to rap about Trump, saying, âWhy is everybody always hatinâ on my president.â
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