Dave Chappelle Attacker Says He Was Inspired By Will Smith At Oscars

Weeks after the comedian Dave Chappelle was tackled onstage while filming a standup comedy special for Netflix, the man who allegedly did it is admitting that he was inspired to do so by Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars back in March.

Backstory: Did Will Smith Inspire This Attack On Dave Chappelle?

Isaiah Lee Praises Smith For Slapping Rock

While being interviewed at the Twin Towers Correctional facility in downtown Los Angeles by The New York Post, 23 year-old Isaiah Lee praised Smith for storming the Oscars stage and slapping Rock after the comedian made a “tasteless” joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, being bald. 

“That’s not right what [Chris Rock] said about his wife, calling her GI Jane,” Lee said, referring to the joke Rock had made about Jada, who suffers from hair loss due to a condition known as alopecia.

Though Smith has been widely slammed for what he did, Lee praised him for “standing up for his wife.” It was this incident that reportedly inspired Lee to tackle Chappelle after he was offended by jokes that the comedian was making.

“I wanted him to know that next time, he should consider first running his material by people it could affect,” Lee said. “I wanted Dave Chappelle and people to know that these are things you need to be more sensitive about and not joke about.” 

Related: Dave Chappelle Attacker Reveals Real Reason He Tackled Him Onstage

Smith Inspired Lee 

Lee went on to say that Smith inspired him to stand up for what he believed in. He’d previously said that he is a bisexual survivor of sexual abuse who has also been homeless in the past, so he found Chappelle’s jokes about these subjects to be “triggering.”

It should be noted that Lee is also an aspiring rapper under the name “NoName_Trapper,” and he once put out a song about Chappelle.

“I’m not going to lie … it was a bit of clout-chasing,” Lee said of his decision to tackle Chappelle. “Clout-chasing” is a term that young people use to describe the act of seeking fame.

“In Hollywood, you know they say there is no such thing as bad publicity,” Lee continued. “I rap about these things in my music and knew it would get attention.” 

Lee Famous Among His Inmates

Lee then said that he’s already achieved fame amongst his fellow inmates.

“They come up to me and ask, ‘Hey, are you the guy who went up to Dave Chappelle?’” Lee said. “I feel safer here right now than being outside because I’m going to need to find and hire security.” 

Lee also claimed that he suffers from bipolar disorder, but added that he was on medication at the time of the attack.

“They come up to me and ask, ‘Hey, are you the guy who went up to Dave Chappelle?’” Lee said. “I feel safer here right now than being outside because I’m going to need to find and hire security.” 

After Smith’s Oscar slap of Rock, comedians everywhere expressed fears of copy cats trying to do the same thing. Based on what Lee said, it appears that these fears were more than warranted. We can only hope that this violence against comedians doesn’t escalate any further, but if it does, another apology from Smith may be in order.