VIDEO: Comedian Dave Chappelle attacked on stage at Hollywood Bowl
Dave Chappelle speaks during the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. File/ AP
American comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked on the Hollywood Bowl stage in Los Angeles on Tuesday by a knife-wielding person who knocked him to the ground before he was arrested and detained.
A Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said that the suspect, 23-year-old Isaiah Lee, was being held on $30,000 bail after being charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon.
The spokesman reported that Lee was carrying a fake pistol with a knife blade when he attacked Chappelle.
It was not clear if Chappelle, 48, was injured in the attack.
Video footage posted on Twitter showed a man running on stage, pushing Chappelle with his upper body and hitting him with the shoulder in the chest.
The clip showed that once the initial clash occurred, the attacker and Dave Chappelle took several steps before falling to the ground. The attacker stood and ran around the podium, escaping the crowd for a few seconds, before being stopped near the back of the podium.
Chappelle was performing at a new 11-day comedy festival called "Netflix a Joke."
A representative of the Hollywood Bowl said the incident was under investigation.
According to an ABC report, Rock, who performed earlier in the evening, went on stage with Chappelle moments after the attack and joked, "Was that Will Smith?"
Video footage showed the suspect on a stretcher while being put into an ambulance.
And (NBC) quoted police as saying that he was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
The on-stage brawl comes a month after Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars, in an unprecedented incident during the televised event, watched by viewers around the world. It raised fears that artists would face similar attacks.
