Kevin Hart has shared his thoughts on Dave Chappelle being tackled while performing on stage on Tuesday night.
Chappelle, 48, had been performing at the Netflix Is A Joke: Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles when he was rushed by an audience member and tackled to the ground.
The attacker was later identified by police as 23-year-old Isaiah Lee.
Cell phone footage quickly went viral on social media showing the scary moment Lee took to the stage and made a beeline for Chappelle.
Videos show the venue's security - along with several of Chappelle's associates - physically detaining Lee.
The following day, Lee was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after officials from the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that he was carrying a replica gun that contained a knife blade.
The LAPD reported that Lee suffered "superficial injuries" and had to be transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Now, during his recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Hart revealed that the very physical detaining of Lee "needed to happen".
"Somebody ran onstage and got their a** whooped," the 42-year-old actor and comedian said. "Not scary. It’s one of those things that needed to happen, though... Do you want people to continue to think that they can cross that line and break the barrier of entertainer [and audience]?
"Somebody getting their a** whooped sends a message out to other people that was like, ‘You know, I was thinking about doing that. But after seeing that, I don’t really want to do that.'"
The actor continued: "I think that the world that we’re in right now — there are a lot of lines that are being blurred, and sometimes you gotta take a lot of steps back to take a step forward... I think it’s time to get back to a place of respect for your live entertainer and understand that you’re coming to a show."
Chappelle has since revealed that he confronted Lee backstage after the altercation to find out why he jumped him on the stage.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Chappelle said that he "needed to talk" to Lee, and convinced the venue's security team to let him speak to the suspect in a room backstage where Lee was being detained.
Chappelle said how he believed Lee appeared to be mentally ill, and was told by the suspect that he rushed the stage in an effort to draw attention to the fact that his Brooklyn-based grandmother has been forced out of her neighborhood as a result of gentrification.