Police released photos Wednesday of the replica gun with an ejecting knife that an armed man used to attack comedian Dave Chappelle at the Hollywood Bowl.
The images, shared by the Los Angeles Police Department, showed that a bayonet knife was affixed to the barrel of the handgun.
It remains unclear how Isaiah Lee, 23, snuck the weapon into the Netflix is a Joke comedy event on Tuesday night, but unnamed police sources told TMZ there was only one entrance area, where the metal detector could be circumvented.
He later allegedly used the weapon as he lunged at Chapelle, who was finishing up his comedy routine at the festival.
Chapelle was uninjured in the attack, as Lee was tackled by security guards who appeared to break his arm as he fought back.
Lee – an aspiring hip-hop artist who has posted rap videos on YouTube going back to 2020 – is now being held in LA County Sheriff’s custody on a single felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon.
His bail has been set at $30,000.
Lee’s motive for the attack remains unclear, though his brother told Rolling Stone that he has mental health problems and has some connection to the trans community – which Chappelle has been accused of disparaging – but it’s not clear what that is.
Chappelle, meanwhile, continued with his set as he joked that his attacker was a ‘trans man.’
The LAPD has released photos of the fake rifle with an ejecting knife that Isaiah Lee, 23, allegedly used as he lunged at comedian Dave Chappelle Tuesday night
It remains unclear what Lee’s motive was in the attack, even as he is being held on a $30,000 bond
Lee had previously rapped about Dave Chappelle, in which he repeated references to ‘jokes,’ but it was unclear whether he was a fan.
And before storming the stage at the festival, he uploaded an Instagram story of himself in the same outfit he was arrested in.
Meanwhile, in a statement on Wednesday, Chappelle said the incident was ‘unfortunate’ but not what he wanted to remember from the event.
‘Dave Chappelle celebrated four nights of comedy and music, setting record-breaking sales for a comedian at the Hollywood Bowl… he refuses to allow last night’s incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment,’ a spokesperson said.
‘As unfortunate and unsettling as the incident was, Chappelle went on with the show.’
Isaiah Lee, 23, was removed on a gurney and in handcuffs after trying to attack Dave Chappelle at his show in Hollywood on Tuesday night
The 23-year-old was taken into custody at the event, then was taken to the hospital. He is now in jail
Footage later appears to show the suspect being treated by paramedics for a badly injured arm before he was taken to hospital in an ambulance
But the attack raises questions about security at the Netflix show, its first ever live comedy festival, which forced fans to put their phones away but failed to spot the weapon. Netflix has not yet addressed the incident.
The venue said on its website that the show, which last night was titled Dave Chappelle and Friends, would be a ‘phone-free experience’ and that the audience would have to secure their phones inside pouches.
After the attacker was detained, Chappelle thanked Foxx on stage during the curtain call. He said: ‘Shout out to Jamie Foxx by the way.
‘Whenever you’re in trouble, Jamie Foxx will show up in a sheriff’s hat.’
Foxx replied: ‘I thought that was part of the show, I didn’t know what the f***…’
Chappelle said: ‘I grabbed the back of that n**** head. His hair was spongy. Absorbent.’
Foxx added: ‘Listen, I just want to say, this man is an absolute genius. We’ve got to make sure we protect him at all times.
‘For every comedian who comes out here, this means everything. You’re a genius. You’re a legend, I enjoyed myself thoroughly, and we’re not going to let nothing happen to you.’
Chappelle said: ‘I’ve been doing this for 35 years. I just stomped a n**** backstage. I’ve always wanted to do that.’
After the attack, Jimmy Carr shared a selfie taken with the fellow comedian and described his Los Angeles show as ‘crazy’.
He tweeted: ‘The Hollywood Bowl show with the legendary Dave Chappelle was crazy. Just happy everyone’s ok.’
Chappelle came under fire last year over jokes about trans people in his Netflix comedy show The Closer.
Dave Chappelle was last night attacked on stage while filming a Netflix special in Los Angeles
During the controversial special, he made one comment stating that ‘gender is a fact’, prompting Netflix staff to protest and mass outrage on social media against some of his jokes.
He also shared his backing for JK Rowling, who has also attracted criticism for her remarks about biological sex.
In the special, he stated that he does not hate transgender people, and tells a long anecdote about a trans woman comic, who he describes as a friend, who came to his defense in earlier entanglements with the community.
Chappelle added: ‘Every human being in this room, every human being on Earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on Earth. That is a fact.’
In the contentious special, Chappelle also joked that women today view transwomen the same way black people might view white women wearing blackface, and remarked that women are entitled to feel anger toward transwomen, since Caitlyn Jenner won Glamour magazine’s 2015 Woman of the Year award.
‘I’d be mad as sh*t if I was a woman,’ Chappelle said.
The star also joked about the anatomy of transwomen, joking that they lacked real female reproductive organs and that they did not have blood but ‘beet juice’.
The comments prompted calls for Netflix to take down the show, but boss Ted Sarandos told staff that ‘content on screen doesn’t translate to real-world harm’.
Those who have criticized Chapelle’s jokes have specifically cited the physical danger faced by the trans community as a result of anti-trans ideology.
Chris Rock, who performed later in the event last night and was similarly subjected to a violent outburst on stage at the Oscars in March, came on stage and joked: ‘Was that Will Smith?’, with Jimmy Carr standing behind
Chris Rock later came to the stage and joked that it was Will Smith who attacked Chappelle, while Jimmy Carr stood shocked in the background at the ‘crazy’ gig
The attack also comes weeks after Will Smith attacked Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars, raising fears it would inspire similar violent protests against performers.
The actor slapped the comedian on stage after a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith’s shaved head. Pinkett-Smith has been open in the past about her struggles with alopecia.
After the slap, Smith returned to his seat and screamed ‘keep my wife’s name out of your f*****g mouth.’
He the then won the Oscar for Best Actor in his role as Richard Williams, in the film King Richard. He used his speech to apologize to the Academy and he later posted an apology on Instagram.
Rock has mostly kept quiet on the issue, speaking out only to say he was ‘processing’ what happened.
The incident prompted members of the comedy community, including Jack Whitehall and Kathy Griffin, to voice their fears that performers are no longer safe on stage.
The Netflix event is the streaming giant’s first ever comedy festival and features performances from big name stars including Seth Rogen, Snoop Dogg, Bill Burr and Pete Davidson.
