Man who attacked Dave Chappelle at the Hollywood Bowl sentenced to 270 days in jail
The man who attacked comedian Dave Chappelle onstage at the Hollywood Bowl in May has been sentenced to nearly nine months in jail.
Isaiah Lee, 24, who pleaded no contest to one charge of misdemeanor battery and one charge of entering a restricted area during a live event, was sentenced Wednesday to 270 days in county jail, according to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.
In August, Lee’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Chelsea Padilla, requested that her client be placed in a mental health diversion program. Prosecutors opposed the motion and a judge rejected Lee’s request, which could have resulted in a dismissal of charges against him.
Padilla did not immediately respond Thursday to The Times’ request for comment.
Isaiah Lee, who faces misdemeanor charges for attacking comedian Dave Chappelle at the Hollywood Bowl earlier this month, was charged with stabbing his roommate during a fight in December 2021, prosecutors said.
Lee remains behind bars after separately being charged with attempted murder in connection to a December 2021 stabbing of his former roommate. In mid-May, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón said “the publicity generated by the attack on Mr. Chappelle” led the victim in the stabbing to identify Lee to Los Angeles police detectives.
On May 3, Lee jumped out of the audience onto the Hollywood Bowl stage about halfway through Chappelle’s performance during the inaugural Netflix is a Joke comedy festival. In videos of the incident, Lee appeared to lower his head and charge Chappelle, knocking the “The Closer” comic backward. Lee fled to the back of the stage where he was apprehended by security and sustained minor injuries. Chappelle was not hurt.
Lee was found to be carrying a 3-inch folding knife that was shaped to resemble a firearm, but did not attempt to use the weapon during the attack, authorities have said. It remains unclear how Lee was able to get into the show carrying a weapon, or how he got past security and on stage.
The weapon in the case will be destroyed, according to the city attorney’s office.
While attempts to cancel Dave Chappelle were largely unsuccessful, the controversy has highlighted the larger issue of freedom of expression and who exactly is entitled to it.
During a performance at the Comedy Store days after the attack, Chappelle said that he spoke to Lee before he was taken away by paramedics and Lee shared a story about his grandmother from Brooklyn, who had been forced out of her neighborhood by gentrification. The attack apparently was meant to draw attention to her plight, Chappelle said.
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office declined to file felony charges against Lee in the attack on the polarizing Emmy winner because the performer was not injured and Lee did not brandish the weapon, prosecutors said.
His next court date has been set for Jan. 19, according to L.A. County Sheriff’s inmate records.
Times staff writer James Queally contributed to this report.
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