Dave Chappelle has spoken out after being .
The 48-year-old comedian was performing on Tuesday night as part of the Netflix Is A Joke festival when he was ‘tackled’ and sent ‘flying in the air’, according to a witness.
At the time of writing, 23-year-old man on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and taken into custody.
Addressing the incident, a rep for Chappelle 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 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.’
The statement continued: ‘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, hip-hop artists yasiin bey and Talib Kweli, a.k.a. Black Star, who performed music from their new album – the first in nearly 24 years – which was released on Luminary.
‘Other special comedic guests last night included Earthquake, Leslie Jones, Jeff Ross, Sebastian, Jon Stewart and Michelle Wolf.’
Metro.co.uk understands Chappelle is fully cooperating with the active police investigation into this incident.
The attack happened as Chappelle was closing the show and thanking the comedians who had performed before him, including Chris Rock, Leslie Jones and Jon Stewart.
Following the ordeal, an LAPD spokeswoman said: ‘A famous comedian was performing at the Hollywood Bowl and when he finished his act a male jumped on to the stage and tackled the celebrity.
‘The suspect produced a replica handgun and pointed the item at the victim. He was taken into custody and was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.’
A spokeswoman for the Hollywood Bowl said an investigation had been launched into the incident.
The fracas came after Rock was slapped by Will Smith while on stage at the Oscars, prompting some members of the comedy community to question whether it remains safe to perform publicly.
