|
Footage circulating on social media showed a
man charging on to the stage and tackling Chappelle as he was
performing. The comedian was immediately dragged off by
security, the videos showed.
Reuters could not immediately verify the footage.
Chappelle was performing at a new, 11-day comedy festival called
"Netflix is a Joke," according to organizers.
Chappelle's Netflix comedy special "The Closer" was criticized
last year by some who saw it as ridiculing transgender people.
Supporters of the comedian viewed it as a cry against cancel
culture.
The onstage altercation comes a month after actor Will Smith
slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars, for which he was
banned from the event for 10 years.
According to an ABC report, Rock, who performed earlier in the
night, came on stage with Chappelle moments after the attack and
joked: "Was that Will Smith?"
Chappelle asked repeatedly for security to remove the man from
the stage, the ABC report added.
Brianna Sacks, a journalist for BuzzFeed News who said she was
at the show, tweeted that the man who charged at Chappelle on
stage got kicked by at least 10 people.
"The altercation occurred just when Chappelle’s performance
ended and later the actor Jamie Foxx went on stage after the
incident looking absolutely shocked," she tweeted.
A representative for the Hollywood Bowl said in an email
statement to Reuters that the incident was subject to "an active
investigation" and that it was unable to comment further.
Officials for the Los Angeles Police Department did not
immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. A
spokesperson for Chappelle could not be immediately reached for
comment.
(Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Additional reporting
by Shivam Patel; Editing by Nick Macfie)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.]
|
|
