The man accused of attacking Dave Chappelle earlier this month has spoken out about the incident.
via Complex:
In an interview with the New York Post from Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, Isaiah Lee revealed what compelled him to do it. “I identify as bisexual… and I wanted him to know what he said was triggering,” he said. “I wanted him to know that next time, he should consider first running his material by people it could affect.”
Lee has pleaded not guilty to four misdemeanor charges, which include battery, possession of a weapon with intent to assault, unauthorized access to the stage area during a performance, and commission of an act that delays the event or interferes with the performer.
The possession of a weapon with intent to assault charge stems from him carrying a retractable knife attached to a replica handgun on the night of the incident. Lee has admitted to having the weapon on him, but said he wasn’t carrying it when he went on stage. The man who also goes by his rap alias NoName_Trapper claimed the weapon was only on him for protection since he’s a “minor celebrity.”
Chappelle has come under fire in the past for joking about the trans community, which he has repeatedly revisited ever since his last Netflix special The Closer where he vowed to never speak on the topic again. After security pulled Lee away offstage, Dave grabbed the mic and said, “That was a trans man.”
“I’m also a single dad and my son is five,” Lee shared, who also took issue with Chappelle joking about homelessness; the 23-year-old said he’s at one point been homeless. “It’s a struggle and I wanted Dave Chappelle to know it’s not a joke.” He said his breaking point came when a comedian who performed before Dave that night made a joke about pedophilia. Lee said he was molested when he was 17.
Lee also claimed Chappelle confronted him later about the incident. “I told him my mother and grandmother, who fought for his civil rights to be able to speak, would be upset at the things he said,” Lee recalled, to which Chappelle allegedly responded, “Now your story will die with you, son.”
Lee has also been charged with attempted murder for allegedly stabbing his roommate during an altercation at a transitional housing apartment. He has pleaded not guilty.
Dave said he spoke with Isaiah shortly after the attack and Isaiah told him it was all about getting attention for his grandmother who he said had been forced out of her neighborhood because of gentrification. It sounds like Dave may have skipped some things in his retelling.
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