Dave Chappelle’s Hollywood Bowl Attacker Sentenced
Dave Chappelle’s attacker at the Hollywood Bowl has reportedly been sentenced. According to Deadline, 24-year-old Isaiah Lee pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count each of battery and entering a restricted area during a live event on Wednesday (December 14). The 24-year-old was sentenced to 270 days in county jail, according to Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.
The comedian was performing at Netflix Is A Joke Fest in May when Lee charged the stage and tackled Chappelle to the ground. Security immediately subdued Lee, and later LAPD arrested him. The Closer performer was unharmed and continued with his show. “Lee admitted that he was carrying a replica handgun armed with a retractable knife, but claimed he didn’t have the weapon out when he charged the stage,” per HipHopDX.
The comedian later issued a statement per Deadline: “As unfortunate and unsettling as the incident was, Chappelle went on with the show. Jamie Foxx and Chris Rock helped calm the crowd with humor before Chappelle introduced the last and featured musical guests for the evening.”
Chappelle alleged that Lee attacked him to “raise awareness of the plight of his grandmother in Brooklyn who was displaced from her home due to gentrification.” However, Lee reportedly gave an interview from inside jail where he said he had been triggered by Chappelle’s jokes about transgender and homeless people.
Lee’s plea comes in at about one-and-a-half months after a judge rejected the defense’s request for a diversion program that could have resulted in the dismissal of the charges.
The 24-year-old is set to return to court on January 19 for an unrelated attempted murder charge. He allegedly stabbed his roommate at a transitional housing facility in December 2021.
