See David Letterman’s Perfect Response To The Dave Chappelle Attack

David Letterman took the stage at the Netflix is a Joke festival, and provided the perfect response to the attacker that went after Dave Chappelle.

By James Brizuela | Published

david letterman

Earlier in the week, as part of the massive Netflix is a Joke festival, a huge amount of the top stand-up comics graced stages all around the Los Angeles area. One of those comics was the legendary Dave Chappelle. Chappelle ended a run at the Hollywood Bowl as part of his Dave Chappelle and Friends show. He brought on many comics and musical acts as he set records at the venue for attendance. However, his final performance on Tuesday was interrupted by an attacker with a knife. Thankfully, the comic was not hurt in the attack. The festival continued on and David Letterman hosted another event, which saw the former comic turned late-night host hilariously commenting on the attack. You can see the video below:

David Letterman starts his bit by thanking the crowd for being at the show. He quickly starts shouting and running away, as he claims he thought he saw someone rushing the stage, but it only turned out to be a waiter working the event. The crowd laughs hysterically as Letterman continues his joke. He tells everyone, “When the show is finished, I will be in the lobby, and if anybody wants to come and beat me up, by God, come on out.” That is certainly the right kind of attitude to have after a would-be attack with a weapon occurred. Letterman finished his bit by asking how many people in the crowd wanted to hit him, as many cheered and laughed at the question.

Comics of all kinds have been tense because of what transpired at the Academy Awards this year. Will Smith took it upon himself to step on stage and slap Chris Rock after the comic made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada-Pinkett Smith. The controversy rocked the entertainment world and had all but put an end to Smith’s career. The world was worried that more people would find it in themselves to want to approach the stage and attack a comic for simply telling jokes. That appeared to have happened as another attacker attempted to take down Dave Chappelle. Thankfully, he along with many comics like David Letterman has not allowed that situation to derail the art of comedy.

A shocking turn of events from the attack was that the D.A.’s office in Los Angeles would not be pursuing felony charges against the man that attacked Dave Chappelle, even though he had a knife on his person. This could have been because it was reported that Chappelle spoke to the man after the attack. He could have not wanted to press charges. Whatever the case was, it is still a scary situation that could have gone worse. At least David Letterman was paranoid to run away from a waiter.

David Letterman wasn’t the only one who took the stage after the Dave Chappelle attack. Fan-favorite comic, John Mulaney, also took the stage even though there was a high-security risk now attached to the festival. Again, this is the way in which comics won’t allow these instances to sully the good nature that comedy is intended for.