Last week, comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked by an armed man who rushed onto the stage at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. Fortunately, Chappelle was able to fight the man off, and security apprehended the assailant with Chappelle unharmed.
The attack quickly made headlines with video going viral on social media and elsewhere that showed the man tackling Chappelle onstage during his standup set for the Netflix is a Joke Fest.
While there’s likely some professionally-recorded video of the show and the incident, they won’t be part of any video presentation on Netflix.
Dave Chappelle attack during comedy show won’t be on Netflix
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has no plans to release any of the four sold-out shows Dave Chappelle performed at the Hollywood Bowl for the Netflix is a Joke Fest. Before his performances, the streamer also made it clear that they weren’t being filmed for a future special.
Chappelle was also filming his shows with his own camera, as many comedians do when working out new material. There’s probably professionally shot footage of the event too, but at this point, it won’t be part of any Netflix presentation.
While releasing footage of Chappelle’s attack during his show isn’t in Netflix’s current plans, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be presented elsewhere in the future.
Chappelle’s attack last week raised concerns about the safety of entertainers on stage, with a focus on comedians lately. The attack on Chappelle arrived just over a month after comedian Chris Rock got slapped at the Oscars by actor Will Smith following a joke Rock made about Will’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Rock didn’t fight back, and Will Smith wasn’t apprehended after hitting Rock. The Oscars went on with Smith collecting the award for Best Actor for King Richard and giving an emotional acceptance speech. He later apologized to Rock via an online statement, resigned from the Academy, and was banned from Academy events for 10 years.
Chappelle’s attacker was quickly apprehended on stage and received a beatdown at the hands of security, Chappelle, and others. As Monsters and Critics reported, the attacker, 23-year-old Isaiah Lee, avoided felony charges and was instead charged with four misdemeanors.
Following Chappelle’s attack at Hollywood Bowl, Rock, who was also at the venue, got on the mic to quickly joke, “Was that Will Smith?”
In addition, the two comedians recently performed together for a secret stand-up show featuring Chappelle in Los Angeles last week, where they had an onstage exchange about their attacks.
Netflix releasing other comedy specials
While the Chappelle shows from Hollywood Bowl aren’t being released by Netflix, there will be other comedy specials featuring various comedians.
According to Variety, Netflix released a list of the other specials arriving on their platform in the coming weeks. The specials feature footage from over 300 comics performing 288 shows across 35 venues in Los Angeles.
On May 19, the streamer presents The Hall: Honoring the Greats of Stand-Up. This will pay tribute to all-time comedy legends and features Dave Chappelle honoring Richard Pryor, John Mulaney honoring Robin Williams, Chelsea Handler honoring Joan Rivers, and Jon Stewart honoring George Carlin.
Bill Burr Presents: Friends Who Kill arrives on Netflix on June 6 and is a showcase of stand-up comedians curated by Bill Burr.
June 9 will bring Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration featuring “the largest-ever gathering of LGBTQ+ comics,” while June 10th will bring A Tribute to Bob Saget.
Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson will also have his own special called Pete Davidson Presents: The Best Friends. Davidson is the host and curator of the multi-comic special.