Comedians are sharing their opinions on the alleged Dave Chappelle attack at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday night.
Chappelle was performing at the Netflix Is A Joke: Festival when he was tackled on stage by an audience member identified as 23-year-old Isaiah Lee. The suspect was carrying a replica handgun with a blade inside when he rushed the comedian during his show.
Many social media users are sharing their thoughts on the topic, with many fellow comedians having a lot to say about the situation and what that entails for the future of comedy.
Author, host, and Comedian Tim Young tweeted: "We can all thank Will Smith for setting the example that led to Dave Chappelle getting assaulted on stage last night."
Another comedian named Tony Baker shared his opinion and said: "Some dude tackled Dave Chappelle on stage and that dude got stomped out forthwith. They took his arm off and put it back on backwards. That’s what he get. This attacking people on stage aint gon fly."
Howie Mandel, 66, recently spoke to ExtraTV about the alleged attack and said how it had "confirmed" an ongoing fear of his.
Mandel said: "Watching what happened to Dave last night confirmed my fear. I was watching it kind of live on Twitter and I turned to my wife and I said, ‘I don't want to. I don't want to go on stage. I'm just really afraid.’"
Reflecting on Will Smith's physical altercation with Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards, the comedian said: "That hit, no pun intended, that hit very deeply.”
Watch Mandel speak out on the incident below:He added: "My biggest fear 40 years ago was not getting a laugh, and then cancel culture came along, and then it was like, ‘Oh, my God if somebody doesn't like your joke or you overstepped your line you could lose your career,’ and then after the Academy Awards...I said... 'Violence triggers violence.'"
Mandel was asked what he planned to do about touring following the alleged Chappelle attack and Chris Rock slap at the Oscars and he said that "the love of what we do is fading" and that comedy now has "no safety net".
He then added: "I'm actually going to do less because the love is not as fervent as it was, you know ... six months ago. Because fear overtakes and I'm a guy who, you know, lives with worry anyway. I've been open about my mental health. I am neurotic. I suffer from depression."
And speaking to WCCO, comedian and Actor Shed G added: "A place where freedom of speech and everybody goes to hear that different side or that different view is now being looked at as, ‘Don’t you say the wrong thing because they will come up and do something to you."
Addressing the incident, Chappelle's representative told Fox News Digital: "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."
