A man charged with attacking comedian Dave Chappelle while he was on stage back in May at the Hollywood Bowl has pleaded no contest.
Isaiah Lee was charged with one misdemeanor count each of battery and entering a restricted area during a live event. The 24-year-old was sentenced to 270 days in county jail, according to Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.
The plea came about 1 1/2 months after a judge rejected the defense’s request for a diversion program that could have eventually resulted in the dismissal of the charges against Lee, who remains behind bars in connection with an unrelated case in which he is charged with stabbing his roommate at a transitional housing facility last year.
It was on May 3 while Chappelle was on stage performing a show for the Netflix Is a Joke Festival when Lee rushed the stage and threw the comedian to the ground. Security quickly sprung into action and forcefully subdued the suspect and was arrested by LAPD. Chappelle was not injured and continued with his show that night.
“As unfortunate and unsettling as the incident was, Chappelle went on with the show,” read a statement from Chappelle the next day. “Jamie Foxx and Chris Rock helped calm the crowd with humor before Chappelle introduced the last and featured musical guests for the evening.”
Chappelle would later say he was able to speak to the attacker before he was taken away by paramedics. The comedian alleged that Lee told him he carried the attack to raise awareness of the plight of his grandmother in Brooklyn who was displaced from her home due to gentrification.
However, Lee gave an interview from inside jail where he said he had been triggered by Chappelle’s jokes about transgender and homeless people.
Lee is due back in court on January 19 regarding the case in which he is charged with trying to kill his former roommate.
CNS contributed to this report.
Source: Deadline
