Chappelle Incidents Will ‘Continue to Happen,’ Comedian Tells Fox: ‘We’re Almost Living in the Death of Shame’

Fox News Radio host and comedian Jimmy Failla says the attack on Dave Chappelle this week at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during a comedy set will not be the last time we see a comedian assaulted.

The altercation followed the infamous Will Smith slap at this year’s Oscars. Comedian Chris Rock, who was also at the Hollywood Bowl, was the recipient of that open palm over a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Joining Fox Business host Neil Cavuto, Failla theorized such outbursts are being “incentivized.”

“It will continue to happen because on some level we’ve incentivized this, because there’s a lot of attention and notoriety that comes even with being bad. People are okay with that,” the Fox Across America host said. “We’re almost living in the death of shame now where the relevance is more important than the dignity.”

Failla, a touring comedian himself, promoted an upcoming comedy gig of his own, but issued a warning for the audience.

“I want to remind everybody in the audience, I’m headlining the Tampa Improv tomorrow night down in Tampa, it is not SeaWorld. If you sit in the front, you don’t get to touch the animals,” he joked. “That is not how this works. You can’t pet Shamu between jokes. I’m not gonna shoot water at you.”

Too many comedians, Failla argued, have given ground to the “outrage mob” and let them dictate the “rules of engagement,” citing Jerry Seinfeld’s refusal to perform at colleges.

Failla also offered a warning to comedians nowhere near the level of success of Chappelle, whose security team swarmed his attacker quickly onstage.

“You better have a decent left hook these days,” Failla said for struggling comedians playing less than stellar venues, noting people take far more offense to certain material today.

Isaiah Lee was identified as Chappelle’s attacker after the incident. The 23-year-old is now facing a felony assault with a deadly weapon.