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'He flicked the first domino': Fans blame WILL SMITH for cowardly attack on Dave Chappelle

Eyewitnesses at the event recalled how fellow comedian Chris Rock went on stage and asked, "Was it Will Smith?" prompting laughter from the audience

Dave Chappelle was attacked on stage during his stand-up set at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening, May 3, at the 'Netflix Is A Joke' festival. Now, his fans are blaming Will Smith for setting a terrible precedent and jeopardizing the safety of comedians.

Eyewitnesses at the event recalled how fellow comedian Chris Rock went on stage and asked, "Was it Will Smith?" prompting laughter from the audience. Smith grabbed headlines after slapping Rock in the face on the Oscars stage at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre after the famed comedian poked fun at his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head. Smith then walked back to his seat and yelled to Rock, "Keep my wife's name out your f****** mouth." The incident dominated news cycles for weeks and resulted in the 'King Richard' star being banned from the Academy Awards for 10 years.

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Fans likened the latest incident involving Chappelle to the Oscars slap and rekindled a discussion about comedians and their safety. Meanwhile, many blamed Will Smith for setting a precedent and slammed his defenders.

"Someone tried to Will Smith Dave Chappelle. Stop attacking people at their workplace and you won't end up looking like a pretzel," one tweeted.

"Everyone who defended Will Smith owes Dave Chappelle an apology. You know who you are," another wrote.

"This is all Will Smith's fault, he flicked the first domino. Idc if you like Dave Chapelle or not this sh*t shouldn't happen to anyone," a comment read.

"The Dave Chapelle fiasco is just the Will Smith post slap world. Hope people see what happened to the guy who rushed the stage and see the consequences of messing around is FINDING OUT. glad he is okay," someone else added.

"While I still believe the Will Smith/Chris Rock incident was completely staged, it still opened the door for what happened to Dave Chapelle last night at the Hollywood Bowl. This is complete insanity!" another chimed in.

There are multiple eyewitness reports and videos from the incident. Speaking to KABC, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that they had responded to an incident at the Hollywood Bowl on Tuesday night and arrested a man who was reportedly armed with a gun and a knife. Despite being attacked, Chappelle resumed the show shortly after the perp was removed from the stage.

A number of celebrities supported him, including fellow comedian Rock, who quipped to the crowd, "Was that Will Smith?" That said, video footage captured how the attacker was swiftly apprehended and Chappelle continued his set afterward. He joked that he "stomped" the man in self-defense. "I've been doing this for 35 years—I just stomped a n— backstage," he said, as quoted by Newsweek. "I've always wanted to do that."