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UFC 264: Poirier v McGregor 3

Source: Stacy Revere / Getty

As more details emerge about the person who recently attacked Dave Chappelle at the Netflix Is A Joke festival on Tuesday, it appears the individual in question may have had an eye for the comedy legend. As a matter of fact, Chappelle’s assailant is actually 23-year-old Isaiah Lee, a Spotify rapper with the tag NONAME_trapper. And Lee even released a song two years ago named after the comedian.

The irony, however, is that the tune had nothing to do with Chappelle other than its title. “It’s just that Dave Chappelle has a world-recognized name,” Aaron Lee, Isaiah’s older brother, told Rolling Stone. “People are searching Dave Chappelle all the time, so he hoped it would help him get more attention, more attraction, so people could find it. [My brother] doesn’t have any type of animosity toward [Chappelle] that I know about.”

Aaron did mention his younger brother has been homeless since the age of 11 years old and does take psych meds. “[Isaiah’s] not the type of person to attack you for no reason,” he added. “But if he’s not on his medication, and if he feels everyone is against him, maybe that’s it.”

Two people who definitely are making light of the moment are Chappelle’s comedic peers, Jamie Foxx and Chris Rock. Foxx was at the Hollywood Bowl during Chappelle’s set, and the Beat Shazam posted a black-and-white photo of himself and Chappelle to IG in support of his buddy. However, Foxx says he was one of the people who jumped into the fray to defend Chappelle. Film director JJ Perry uploaded Foxx’s humorous recount of the events to the Internet as well, and Foxx took a playful jab at Chris Rock towards the end of his story.

Rock, who was also at the Hollywood Bowl that night, actually performed before Chappelle as part of the festival. He has said virtually nothing direct about his infamous Oscars confrontation will Will Smith, even on his current Ego Death World Tour.

But on Tuesday, after everything had settled around the Bowl, the jokester walked onstage to embrace Chappelle and may have landed the wittiest one-liner of the evening with asking the following question: “Was that Will Smith?” (The clip of Rock’s quip was reportedly viewed more than 40,000 overnight, according to the New York Post.)

For his part, Chappelle later joked that the person who attacked him “was a trans man,” which was not well received by members of the LGBTQIA+ community. But Carla Sims, Chappelle’s rep, gave a warmer statement about the incident the next day.

“The performances by Chappelle at the Hollywood Bowl were epic and record-breaking and he refuses to allow last night’s incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “Dave Chappelle celebrated four nights of comedy and music, setting record-breaking sales for a comedian at the Hollywood Bowl.