Earlier this week, Dave Chappelle performed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, where the 48-year-old comedian was attacked by an allegedly armed audience member.
Footage taken after the attack showed the suspect, 23-year-old Isaiah Lee, on a stretcher and being put into an ambulance. Images showed Lee with bruises what looked like a broken arm.
During an appearance on Thursday on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kevin Hart argued that Lee’s beating “needed to happen,” if only to prevent subsequent onstage attacks from taking place.
“Somebody ran onstage and got their ass whooped,” Hart said. “Not scary. It’s one of those things that needed to happen, though…do you want people to continue to think that they can cross that line and break the barrier of entertainer [and audience]?”
Hart continued, “Somebody getting their ass whooped sends a message out to other people that was like, ‘You know, I was thinking about doing that. But after seeing that, I don’t really want to do that.’”
He added, “I think that the world that we’re in right now — there are a lot of lines that are being blurred, and sometimes you gotta take a lot of steps back to take a step forward,” he added. “I think it’s time to get back to a place of respect for your live entertainer and understand that you’re coming to a show.”
Watch Hart’s full response about Dave Chappelle’s attacker below.
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