Dave Chappelle, a comedian and actor, was attacked by a 23-year-old rapper during his performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles for the Netflix is a Joke Festival. The incident has been widely shared on social media, with some celebrities even turning it into a joke. One of the rappers, Nicki Minaj, tweeted about the incident, stating that he grabbed the back of the man’s head and his hair was spongy absorbent.
Videos posted to Twitter showed the person who charged Chappelle being detained outside the venue by police and then loaded into an ambulance with visible injuries.
Chappelle’s team addressed the incident in a statement saying they would not allow the attack to overshadow the magic of the historic show. They later joked with fellow comedian and actor Jamie Foxx on stage that he had taken revenge on his attacker since Dave came out and escaped from the incident. Some rappers have been reacting to the incident, with some turning it into a laughing matter while others went more seriously.
Nicki Minaj shared a Twitter post where Maya Kev had posted a side-to-side photo of the assaulted man and a mean pick of Nicki Minaj posing. She commented on the tweet, which has been so retweeted with fans laughing and making fun of the meme. Roy shared a side-by-side picture of a ripped Dave Chappelle and the battered assaulted man, commenting that this is why Dave Chappelle started working out.
Joseph Johnson tweeted a clip of a group of people beating someone up before captioning how Champel security did the dude who ran on stage. D.Omen also tweeted that he came to see Dave Chappelle and almost met Charlie Murphy the same night the tweet has more than 3k retweets. His fans shared the same humor as him, while Freddy Gibbs posted a picture of the battered man on Twitter and captioned it “__.”
Federal Radio Host Howard Stern condemned Dave Chappelle and the people present for their reaction to the assaulter on his radio show. He said that the guy who attacked him was rumored to have attacked him over the fact that he had previously offended the trans people community and being part of the LGBTQIA community. Others claim that he did that for a publicity stunt because he is an upcoming rapper unless he talks about it.
In conclusion, the Dave Chappelle incident has left a lasting impact on the entertainment industry, with some celebrities like Howie Mandel and Kevin Hart sharing their opinions on the situation. While some have praised Chappelle for his professionalism in handling the situation, others argue that the lack of consequences may open a door for other audience members to storm stages in the future.