The man accused of attacking Dave Chappelle on stage earlier this month (4 May) has said he found the comedian’s jokes about the LGBT community “triggering”.
Isaiah Lee was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after tackling Chappelle during his performance for the Netflix is a Joke festival, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
“I identify as bisexual … and I wanted him to know what he said was triggering,” Lee told The New York Post on Saturday (21 May) at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.
“I wanted him to know that next time, he should consider first running his material by people it could affect.”
Chappelle was met with criticism for quipping that his attacker must have been a “trans man”, suggesting he was a target because of his past jokes aimed at the transgender community.
After the incident, police revealed that Lee was armed with a replica gun “that can eject a knife blade” when discharged correctly.
While Lee admitted to carrying the weapon into the event, he claimed that he didn’t have the weapon out when he charged the stage and said he didn’t intend to harm Chappelle.
Lee was filmed being carried out of the event on a stretcher with a visibly injured arm. “They spat on me and twisted me as if on purpose,” Lee, who reportedly suffered a broken arm and two black eyes, told The Post.
After footage of the attack went viral, more charges were brought against Lee, who has since been accused of stabbing his roommate during a fight at a transitional housing apartment on 2 December last year.
“The publicity generated by the attack on Mr Chappelle helped police solve this crime,” Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement.
“It was pretty much done,” Lee said about his case involving Chappelle. “But it went from me probably only doing six months [in jail] and having to do community service and living in a transitional home … to possibly 15 or more years in jail,” he added. “My son will be big by the time I get out.”
After the incident at the Netflix event, Chappelle revealed that he had asked Lee about his motives after he had been detained by the police.
“I told him my mother and grandmother, who fought for his civil rights to be able to speak, would be upset at the things he said,” Lee told The Post.
He claimed that Chappelle replied, “Now your story will die with you, son.”
Representatives for Chappelle did not immediately return The Independent’s request for comment.
