The Los Angeles Police Department has released a picture of the gun-like knife allegedly used by Isaiah Lee, 23, to attack comedian Dave Chappelle on the Hollywood Bowl stage on Tuesday night.
The police handout shows two shots of the knife-gun, one in which the blade is tucked under the barrel, another that shows the blade extended.
LAPD Handout
The LAPD also released this brief account of what occurred:
On May 3, 2021, around 10:40 p.m., a comedian was performing at the Hollywood Bowl and had finished his act. As he was exiting the stage a male, who was part of the audience, jumped onto the stage and tackled the comedian to the ground. The suspect produced what was later discovered to be a replica handgun and pointed the item at the victim. Hollywood Bowl uniformed security officers, who witnessed the incident, engaged the suspect and removed him from the victim and took him into custody.
Hollywood officers responded to a call for service and took control of the suspect. The replica handgun that also contained a knife blade was recovered and later processed as evidence. The suspect was arrested for Assault with a Deadly Weapon. He was transported to a local hospital to treat injuries sustained during the altercation with security. The victim was not injured as a result of the assault. The suspect was treated and cleared to be processed by medical staff.
During the mayhem on stage, actor and singer Jamie Foxx also raced to help. Chappelle later thanked Foxx during an encore, saying: “Shout out to Jamie Foxx by the way. Whenever you’re in trouble, Jamie Foxx will show up in a sheriff’s hat,” the Daily Mail reported.
Foxx said: “I thought that was part of the show, I didn’t know what the f***” 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,” Foxx said.
“Chappelle said: ‘I’ve been doing this for 35 years. I just stomped a n**** backstage. I’ve always wanted to do that,” according to the Daily Mail.
Comedian Chris Rock followed Chappelle on stage and said of the attacker, “Was that Will Smith?”
Last month, Rock was on the stage at the 94th Academy Awards, cracking wise about all the celebrities in the star-studded theater. Then he got to Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
“Jada, I love you, G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it. All right?” Rock said. The joke was a reference to a movie that starred Demi Moore as a Navy lieutenant in which the actress sports a shaved head. Jada Pinkett Smith, too, has a shaved head, because she suffers from alopecia.
While she rolled her eyes a bit and didn’t laugh, her husband guffawed heartily, a big smile on his face. “That was a nice one, OK?” Rock said.
“I’m out here –” Rock then said before breaking off. “Uh oh. Richard?” he said, referring to Will Smith’s part playing the father of Serena and Venus Williams’ father in “King Richard.”
Smith strode onto the stage a took a swipe at Rock, not with a fist but an open hand.
“Oh wow,” Rock said. “Wow. Will Smith just smacked the s*** out of me,” he said.
Smith then yelled, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth!”
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.