Dave Chappelle attacked onstage at L.A.’s Hollywood Bowl

Comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked onstage Tuesday evening as he carried out at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl area, with videos from viewers members' cellphones rapidly flooding social media and showing a man appear to run onto the stage and sort out the comic.

Chappelle, whose unapologetic humor has made him a lightning rod for criticism, appeared unscathed by the sudden interruption and later joked (Word: Linked video accommodates harsh language including profanity) with fellow comic and actor Jamie Foxx onstage that he'd taken revenge on his attacker.

Movies posted to Twitter appeared to point out the person who charged Chappelle being detained outside the venue by police after which loaded into an ambulance with visible accidents.

Witnesses said — and videos appeared to indicate — that the man was set upon by a number of folks onstage immediately after he attacked Chappelle. 

The idiot getting crushed down after attacking Dave Chappelle at Hollywood Bowl pic.twitter.com/Ft0FIUyjWv

Whereas all the debacle was captured in multiple videos shot by members of the viewers, cell phone use was formally banned in the course of the performance.  

The motivation for the initial attack remained unclear, and there was no instant response from the Los Angeles Police Department to CBS News' request for details about the incident.

Just got here out of the Hollywood Bowl the place a man charged and tackled Dave Chapelle on stage and bought his ass kicked by not less than 10 individuals.

LAPD and LAFD at the moment are loading him into an ambulance pic.twitter.com/7SXPe9e8az

Comedian Chris Rock was on the show, and jokingly requested if the attacker was Will Smith — who made headlines by bounding up on stage and slapping Rock on the Academy Awards in March.

Chappelle drew a sharp rebuke late last year from the transgender group for jokes at their expense featured in his latest Netflix special, "The Nearer," which premiered in October.

Netflix stood by the Washington D.C. native, persevering with to air the particular despite hundreds of its personal workers staging a walk-out over what they deemed Chappelle's transphobic jokes.

The comic later mentioned he'd be happy to meet with any member of the transgender group, however that he wouldn't be swayed by "anyone's demands" to censor his routine.

"To the transgender group, I'm more than keen to provide you an audience, but you'll not summon me. I'm not bending to anybody's calls for," he told an viewers in a clip posted to his Instagram. 

The 48-year-old comic listed three situations for any potential meeting, and responded to fellow comic Hannah Gadsby, who labelled Chapelle's Netflix particular "hate speech."

"When you wanna meet with me, I might be more than prepared to, but I have circumstances: To begin with, you cannot come if you have not watched my special from starting to finish. You need to come to a place of my choosing and a time of my selecting. And thirdly, you will need to admit that Hannah Gadsby is just not funny."  

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

Tucker Reals is the CBSNews.com international editor, primarily based at the CBS Information London bureau.