Comedian Dave Chappelle Attacked While Performing In Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, CA — Comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked onstage Tuesday night by a man with a knife while performing at the Hollywood Bowl Arena in Los Angeles, according to a report.

Chappelle was performing with the "Dave Chappelle and Friends" show, part of the Netflix Is A Joke Festival, when 23-year-old Isaiah Lee rushed the stage and tackled the comedian, according to a report by NBC News. Security immediately intervened, pulling Lee from Chappelle and detaining him, NBC reported.

Los Angeles police told NBC Los Angeles the man was armed with a replica gun capable of ejecting a knife blade.

Chappelle was not injured during the attack, and it's not immediately clear what prompted his assailant to rush the stage.

In October, Chappelle came under fire over his Netflix special "The Closer." In the special, he joked about trans women and defended author J.K. Rowling against critics who say she is transphobic.

Netflix employees and their supporters staged a companywide walkout to protest the streaming service's distribution of the special. The group also protested statements by Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos defending the company's decision to air the special.

RELATED: Netflix Employees Stage Walkout Supporting Trans Rights

Brianna Sacks, a journalist for BuzzFeed News, was at the show and wrote about the attack on Twitter. She said Chappelle had just joked about having more security due to the backlash over his jokes about the trans community when the attack took place.

Chappelle appeared to recover his composure in video footage after the attack. He joked, "It was a trans man," a reference to controversy surrounding some of Chappelle's jokes in a previous Netflix special that some condemned as transphobic. He also thanked Foxx for helping to subdue the suspect.

According to Sacks, security punched and kicked Chappelle's attacker. As the man was removed from the venue, Jamie Foxx went onstage looking "absolutely shocked," Sacks wrote, adding that musicians Mos Def and Talib Kweli performed as police vehicles arrived behind the stage.

Lee has been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon, an LAPD spokesperson told NBC News. Lee's bail is set at $30,000.

The attack was eerily reminiscent of actor Will Smith's assault of comedian Chris Rock during this year's Oscar ceremony. Smith walked on stage at the Dolby Theatre and smacked Rock in the face after Rock made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Chris Rock, who performed earlier in the show Tuesday night, came on the Hollywood Bowl stage after the assault on Chappelle and joked, "Was that Will Smith?" Stephanie Wash, a journalist with ABC, tweeted.

It was unclear how the suspect was able to carry a weapon into the venue.

On Instagram, Lee goes by the moniker "Noname_Trapper," which is the name of a rapper whose work includes a 2020 song titled "Dave Chappelle." Lee posted a short video on Instagram Tuesday, saying nothing but showing him wearing the same hooded sweatshirt in which he is pictured wearing while handcuffed to the paramedics' gurney Tuesday night after the attack. Lee says nothing on the short video, but he used a video filter showing himself with devil-like horns on his head and blood trickling from his nose -- also similar to the blood seen on his face following his detainment at the Bowl.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. City News Service contributed to this report.