Dave Chappelle traded on-stage altercation stories with Chris Rock and revealed he spoke with the man who attacked him earlier this week during an impromptu set in Los Angeles, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

On Thursday night, May 5, Chappelle appeared at the 70-seat Belly Room at the Comedy Store in L.A., where he primarily spoke about the incident at the Hollywood Bowl earlier this week. Chappelle shared a few details about the attack, saying he couldn’t see the face of his alleged attacker, 23-year-old Isaiah Lee, but did grab hold of his hair during the tussle. Immediately afterward, Chappelle said, he received a hug from his son and said he was unexpectedly comforted by the sight of Jamie Foxx in “a sheriff’s hat.”

Chappelle also spoke about convincing the cops to let him speak with Lee, who was detained after the incident. When the comedian asked Lee what prompted the attack, Lee reportedly told him it was because his grandmother was being forced out of her Brooklyn neighborhood because of gentrification, and he hoped to draw attention to her story.


Early in the set, Rock joined Chappelle on stage and the two traded jokes about their strangely similar recent experiences. “At least you got smacked by someone of repute,” Chappelle said of Will Smith slapping Rock at the Oscars. “I got smacked by a homeless guy with leaves in his hair.” 

Rock reportedly quipped back, “I got smacked by the softest n***a that ever rapped.”

One final detail from the set: Chappelle at one point thanked the various supporters who reached out to him after his attack, listing a bunch of people including admitted sexual harasser Louis C.K. “A lot of people love me, it turns out,” Chappelle said.

After attacking Chappelle, Lee was charged with four misdemeanors: battery, possessing a deadly weapon with intent to assault, unlawfully crossing from a spectator area onto a stage, and interfering with or delaying such an event with unlawful conduct. The top two counts carry max penalties of up to six months in county jail. 

Speaking with Rolling Stone, Lee’s brother, Aaron Lee, said Isaiah had been living in shelters in California for much of the last decade and “does have a history of mental health issues.” Aaron continued: “He does take medicine. Maybe he missed out on taking his prescription. But he’s not the type to just lash out. I don’t understand.”