Dave Chappelle refuses to let onstage attack 'overshadow the magic' of historic show

Dave Chappelle has spoken out after a man rushed the stage and tackled him Tuesday night during a stand-up comedy set at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

"Dave Chappelle celebrated four nights of comedy and music, setting record-breaking sales for a comedian at the Hollywood Bowl. This run ties Chappelle with Monty Python for the most headlined shows by any comedian at the Hollywood Bowl, reaching 70k fans of diverse backgrounds during the first Netflix Is a Joke: The Festival, and he refuses to allow last night's incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment," said Chappelle's publicist, Carla Sims, in a statement to EW. "As unfortunate and unsettling as the incident was, Chappelle went on with the show. Jamie Foxx and Chris Rock helped calm the crowd with humor before Chappelle introduced the last and featured musical guests for the evening."

Sims added that Chappelle is "fully cooperating with the active police investigation," which, according to the Associated Press, has so far uncovered that the arrested assailant, 23-year-old Isaiah Lee, was in possession of a replica handgun that contained a real knife blade inside. (The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to EW's request for more information.)

Foxx later accompanied Chappelle in front of the audience after helping fight off Lee earlier in the evening.

"I thought that was part of the show," Foxx said, before the pair also credited Busta Rhymes with assisting them in the aftermath. "I've had an incredible time. This man is an absolute genius," he said of Chappelle. "We've got to make sure we protect him at all times, man." (Representatives for Rhymes and Foxx did not respond to EW's request for comment.)

After news of Chappelle's attack broke, the entertainer was criticized on social media for making a transphobic joke about his attacker in the wake of his strained relationship with the LGBTQIA+ community over jokes about transgender people in his Netflix-backed Closer stand-up special.

"It was a trans man," Chappelle said in a video that appeared to be taken at the event. The same clip shows Rock taking the mic and jokingly asking the crowd if the attacker was Will Smith, who slapped him in the face on stage during the live Oscars telecast in March.

According to Buzzfeed reporter Brianna Sacks, who was at the festival when Chappelle was attacked, the performer included a bit in his set that touched on beefed-up security in the wake of the stir his Closer special caused among trans people.

"What is really surreal about this is that Chapelle talked about Chris Rock and the slap/new reality facing comedians/having more security with him and his wife being worried about him now. He did a whole bit about a crazy man coming to his house and chasing him down in his car," Sacks tweeted. "While the attacker was getting beat up, Chapelle made a joke about him probably being a Trans man."

In October, Netflix employees staged a walkout over the Closer project, after which Chappelle indicated he was open to having a dialogue with trans people.

"Dave stands by his Art. Both sides of the street are talking and Dave is listening," Chappelle's team told PEOPLE at the time. "At some point, when everyone is open, I'm sure our communities will come together."

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