Clay Travis Bashes Will Smith Setting ‘Precedent’ With Oscars Slap After Dave Chappelle Attack: He ‘Could’ve Been Killed Here’

Outkick founder Clay Travis warned Will Smith set a disturbing “precedent” for free speech as he reacted to Dave Chappelle getting attacked in the middle of a show in Los Angeles.

Travis spoke with Brian Kilmeade on Fox & Friends Wednesday, where he was asked for his response to Chappelle getting tackled on-stage during his show at the Netflix Is A Joke comedy festival. Travis connected the attack to Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, saying “this is why comedians have been afraid of” since that incident.

“We don’t know if these are directly connected,” Travis said. “but oftentimes, what happens is a choice gets put out into the atmosphere…It’s not uncommon for comedians to get heckled in the crowd, but someone who took the next step and decided to go on the stage and strike someone was certainly paramount in comedians’ minds with what Will Smith decided to do, with what the tens of millions of people saw happen there.”

Travis went on by warning of possible “copycat-related incidents,” plus he hailed Chappelle as a “free speech warrior” because the comedian has stood by jokes that his critics have condemned as transphobic. Chappelle joked about the backlash he received before he was assaulted during the show, and he joked afterward that his attacker was a “trans man.”

Travis continued to raise questions about whether the assailant, identified as Isaiah Lee, saw Smith’s actions at the Oscars and decided to violently attack Chappelle for his jokes. Travis also noted that Lee was reportedly armed with a knife, so he fearfully wondered about the implications for comedians performing at smaller venues with less security.

“Dave Chappelle could have been killed here,” Travis summarized. “I think comedy clubs everywhere should be considering what sort of security they have near the stage to try to protect performers…It’s also emblematic of a larger context here, which is this idea of someone says something I don’t like and I’m going to physically assault them. We saw it with Will Smith and Chris Rock. We’re now seeing it with Dave Chappelle.”

Chris Rock was at the venue with Chappelle during the attack, and he joked about Smith slapping him at the Oscars by asking if the actor was the guy who tackled Chappelle. Smith was banned from the Oscars for 10 years amid the uproar over his actions.

Watch above, via Fox News.