The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office has declined to pursue felony charges against the suspect who attacked Dave Chappelle during his set at the Hollywood Bowl.
via THR:
“After reviewing the evidence, prosecutors determined that while criminal conduct occurred, the evidence as presented did not constitute felony conduct,” a spokesperson for the department said in a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter. “The District Attorney’s Office does not prosecute misdemeanor crimes within the city of Los Angeles.”
The D.A. has referred the case to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, where it will consider possible misdemeanor charges.
The attack took place around 10:40 p.m. as Chappelle was attempting to leave the Hollywood Bowl stage upon finishing a set during the Netflix Is a Joke comedy festival. That is when 23-year-old suspect Isaiah Lee rushed the stage and tackled Chappelle to the floor. The suspect was apprehended by venue security and eventually handed over to the LAPD. Lee was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and is being held on $30,000 bail.
At the time of the attack, Lee was carrying a replica handgun with a knife blade inside, authorities said. Chappelle was not injured during the incident and is fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation.
A statement provided to THR by Chappelle’s rep on Wednesday asserted that the comedian would refuse to allow the incident to “overshadow” his appearances during the comedy festival.
“The performances by Chappelle at the Hollywood Bowl were epic and record-breaking and he refuses to allow last night’s incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment,” his rep, Carla Sims, said. “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 70,000 fans of diverse backgrounds during the first Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival.”
In its own statement, Netflix said, “We care deeply about the safety of creators and we strongly defend the right of stand-up comedians to perform on stage without fear of violence.”
The attack took place on the last night in a string of festival appearances for the comedian. Chappelle served as the festival’s opening night headliner on April 28, delivering three more sets — including Tuesday’s — before wrapping his run. During all four nights of the show, attendees were required to secure their phones at the venue’s entrance to avoid any potential recording. Festivalgoers also had to go through security and metal detectors.
We hate to break it to Dave, but that incident definitely overshadowed his show.
