Comedian Dave Chappelle tackled on stage at Hollywood Bowl - reports

[May 04, 2022] (Reuters) - U.S. comedian Dave Chappelle was tackled on stage during his show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, according to multiple U.S. media outlets, citing witnesses at the "Netflix is a Joke" festival and videos.

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.

Dave Chappelle introduces Jay-Z during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. October 30, 2021. REUTERS/Gaelen Morse/File Photo

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This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.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.