Chris Rock Responds After Dave Chappelle Is Attacked On Stage During Hollywood Bowl Gig

Chris Rock joked about his own on-stage altercation after comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl.

The comedian was nearing the end of his set at the 'Netflix Is A Joke' comedy festival in Los Angeles last night (3 May) when an onlooker suddenly stormed the stage and tackled him to the ground.

Both Jamie Foxx and Rock are said to have joined Chappelle on stage in the aftermath of the attack, at which point Rock drew attention to his own experience of being confronted.

Will Smith stunned the world when, just weeks before Chappelle's performance, he stormed on to the stage at the Oscars as Rock was preparing to give out an award for the Best Documentary.

Without hesitation he approached Rock on the stage and slapped him across the face for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Rock called back to the moment after joining Chappelle on stage, quipping: "Was that Will Smith?"

Where Smith calmly walked back to his seat, however, Chappelle and the man are said to have tussled on the stage floor before the intruder ran behind a screen. Members of security rushed to detain the man, and footage shared online appeared to show him later being loaded into an ambulance. 

Onlookers were left just as baffled in both cases though, with Foxx admitting he thought the attack against Chappelle was 'part of the show'.

In footage shared online, Foxx appears to tell the crowd Chappelle is an 'absolute genius', adding: "We’ve got to make sure we protect him at all times… For every comedian who comes out here, this means everything. You’re a genius. You’re a legend, and we’re not going to let nothing happen to you.”

Rock has largely remained silent about the moment Smith slapped him, giving only the occasional comment to acknowledge the event. Smith, on the other hand, publicly apologised to Rock in the wake of the incident, saying he was 'out of line' and 'wrong' for attacking him on stage.

"I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness," he added.

Chappelle has not yet publicly commented on his attack last night, though after the man left the stage he joked he was a 'trans man' in apparent reference to the controversy surrounding jokes he has made about the LGBTQ+ community.