Dave Chapelle makes jokes about trans people and victims of sexual abuse – and in doing so draws a lot of criticism. Now a man has tried to pull him to the ground during a performance.
Stand-up comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked on stage while performing at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. This is reported by various US media. Cell phone footage shows a man rushing onto the stage and throwing himself at Chappelle. The comedian was apparently unharmed and continued his performance.
Chappelle appeared at the comedy festival Netflix Is A Joke, organized by Netflix. The streaming service has been producing specials with Chappelle for a number of years, which seem to be well received by parts of the audience.
Criticism, however, was sparked particularly at the special »The Closer«, which premiered last year. In it, Chappelle said, among other things, that gender is “a fact” and that LGBTQ people are “too sensitive.” For sexual minorities there were improvements within a few years that blacks were still denied decades later.
There were also internal protests at Netflix, but Co-Netflix boss Ted Sarandos held his protective hand over Chappelle. In an internal letter he emphasized at the time that it was also about defending “artistic freedom”.
“It was probably a trans man,” Chappelle is said to have said after the attack, according to the industry magazine Variety. In fact, nothing is known about the background and the identity of the attacker. Actors Jamie Foxx and Chris Rock are said to have appeared on stage afterwards.
Rock was also recently the victim of an attack on the open stage after Will Smith slapped him at the Oscars. According to Variety, Foxx told Chapelle, “You’re a legend and we won’t let anything happen to you.”
