Dave Chappelle’s Attacker Was Reportedly Roughed-Up By Busta Rhymes

If you’re just waking up and checking Uproxx before your Twitter feed, number one, thank you. Number two: Batten down the hatches. You’re in for a wild day.

Last night, Dave Chappelle performed at the Hollywood Bowl as part of the ongoing Netflix Is A Joke Fest, which has seen seemingly the entirety of the comedy community descend on LA for a month-long slate of events. However, it seems unlikely that any will top the outrageous happenings toward the end of Chappelle’s headlining set. As Dave was closing out the show, an unidentified male assailant tried to rush the stage, apparently brandishing a replica handgun.

He was able to tackle the comedian before a group of people, which reportedly included rapper Busta Rhymes (with whom Chappelle is soon to launch the Dave And Busta Tour, no joke) and the multitalented Jamie Foxx, intervened, packing the attacker up and taking him backstage. Later, he emerged on a stretcher doing his best impression of a human pretzel, as seen in a video posted to social media. He was loaded into an ambulance for transport to a local hospital, where I’m sure doctors will try their best not to practice their own tight fives as they sort his arms back into some semblance of their original shape.

Fans on Twitter have naturally been buzzing, expressing awe at how badly beaten up the attacker looks (here’s your reminder that Busta is 6’1 and well over 200 lbs.) and comparing the incident to Will Smith and Chris Rock’s recent Oscars outburst — including Chris Rock.

For his part, Chappelle seemed unharmed and like Rock, played it off with his own improvised riff, which Foxx joined. “I been doing this 35 years, I just stomped a nigga backstage,” joked. “I seen Busta Rhymes, he was like, ‘That’s how you do it, god.’”

That is, indeed, how you do it. Let’s all hope no one else gets any ideas about trying this stunt again.