Dave Chapelle's stage attacker charged with four counts of misdemeanour

The man who attached Dave Chappelle at the Hollywood Bowl has been charged with four counts of misdemeanour and will no longer face felony charges, Los Angeles officials have stated.

The incident occurred at Tuesday night's Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival performance. The LAPD later arrested 23-year-old Isaiah Lee, who was carrying a replica gun containing a knife blade, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He remains in custody in lieu of $30,000 bail.

Lee has now been charged with battery, possession of a weapon with intent to assault, unauthorised access to the stage area during a performance, and commission of an act that delays an event or interferes with a performer.

Video footage shows a bruised Lee being loaded into an ambulance sporting an injured arm and facial wounds.

The motivations behind this act have not been confirmed. In a statement made to Rolling Stone, the assailant's brother Aaron Lee revealed that Isaiah had struggled with mental health problems and homelessness.

He stated that - while Isaiah had frequented a shelter that supports the trans community, he was a nonviolent man with no known animosity towards the comedian.

Lee rushed the stage as Chappelle was closing the show, interrupting his acknowledgments towards the comedians who had performed prior: Chris Rock, Leslie Jones and Jon Stewart.

A statement later released through his spokesperson states Chappelle's refusal to allow the attack to tarnish the night's historic success. He noted that his four-night run at the Hollywood Bowl ties him with Monty Python for the most headlined shows by a comedian at the Bowl.

The Los Angeles venue was able to bring in 70,000 viewers for the Netflix sponsored festival.

The assault inevitably brings to mind Will Smith's recent slap of Chris Rock during this year's Oscar ceremony. The needless attack resulted in a 10 year ban from Academy events as well as the cancelation of several upcoming projects. The act prompted some comedians to question whether it remains safe to perform publicly in the era of cancel culture.

Chappelle has become a controversial figure following his Netflix comedy special The Closer in which he made a slew of polarising, arguably harmful jokes against the trans community.

Just came out of the Hollywood Bowl where a man charged and tackled Dave Chapelle on stage and got his ass kicked by at least 10 people.

LAPD and LAFD are now loading him into an ambulance pic.twitter.com/7SXPe9e8az

— Brianna Sacks (@bri_sacks) May 4, 2022