Comedian Dave Chappelle was assaulted on stage

American comedian Dave Chappelle was assaulted on stage during a show in Los Angeles on Tuesday night, police in the California megacity reported. The 48-year-old comedian was attending the Netflix Is a Joke festival, hosted by the streaming platform at the Hollywood Bowl, when a man in the audience came on stage and tried to tackle him, according to video footage from the incident shared on social networks. Dave Chappelle was not injured and the motives for the attack were not immediately known. Los Angeles police confirmed the incident to AFP and said the attacker was carrying a dummy gun, equipped with a retractable knife blade. According to a statement from law enforcement, the assailant, a 23-year-old man, “pointed the object in the direction of the victim”. “Uniformed security officers from the Hollywood Bowl, who witnessed the incident, apprehended the suspect and removed him from the victim,” the statement continued. was charged with “assault with a lethal weapon” and bail set at $30,000. Videos showed the young man being evacuated on a stretcher. He was taken to a hospital for treatment, according to a police spokeswoman. According to Brianna Sacks, a Buzzfeed journalist present at the show, the attacker was in turn attacked by at least ten people after attacking Dave Chappelle. A recent controversy Last October, Netflix found itself immersed in a controversy over freedom of expression in the United States after the airing of a show by the comedian, The Closer, in which the stand-up star responded to critics accusing him of making fun of transgender people.In this show condemned by LGBTQ + groups, he claimed that “the existence of gender is a fact” and that his detractors are “too sensitive”. “In our country, you can shoot and kill” a black man, “but don’t you dare offend a gay person,” said Dave Chappelle, himself black. Comedian Dave Chappelle creates controversy with statements An agent for Dave Chappelle said on Wednesday that “he refused to allow last night’s incident to overshadow the magic of a historic moment” which saw him perform four times in a row at the prestigious Hollywood Bowl. For its part, Netflix reacted in a press release to underline that it takes the safety of artists very seriously. “We vigorously defend the right of stand-up comedians to perform on stage without fear of violence,” the platform said. In March, American comedian Chris Rock was slapped on stage by the actor Will Smith at the Oscars after a joke about his wife’s cropped hair. According to several US media outlets, after Dave Chappelle was attacked on Tuesday night, Chris Rock, who was attending the same festival, appeared on stage with Dave Chappelle and said, “Wasn’t that Will Smith?”