For those that aren’t aware, on Tuesday evening Dave Chapelle was on stage during the Netflix Is A Joke festival when an assailant, 23-year-old Isaiah Lee, rushed on stage and attempted to tackle the comedian. The streaming giant’s short statement got right to the point and said, “We care deeply about the safety of creators and we strongly defend the right of stand-up comedians to perform on stage without fear of violence.”
Meanwhile, Dave Chappelle’s statement attempted to not let the bad moment overshadow the record-breaking run he had during this string of shows.
Dave Chappelle celebrated four nights of comedy and music, setting record-breaking sales for a comedian at the Hollywood Bowl. This run ties Chappelle with Monty Python for the most headlined shows by any comedian at the Hollywood Bowl, reaching 70k fans of diverse backgrounds during the first Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival and he refuses to allow last night’s incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment.
Unfortunately, we’re seeing more restrictive measures taken in light of the event. The Laugh Factory announced they will put up metal detectors for the rest of its shows while last night Conan O’Brien stated on stage that he was asked by festival organizers if he wanted a barrier put up between the audience and stage. Conan laughed at the absurdity of it, given who he was and declined.
