Stand-up comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked while performing on stage Tuesday at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

Video footage shows a man rushing on to the stage and tackling the performer to the ground during the Netflix is a Joke comedy festival.

The attacker then gets up and tries to run off-stage before he is caught and tackled by what appear to be security personnel and members of Chappelle’s team. 

Details of the incident are being pieced together as spectators’ mobile phones were supposed to have been confiscated before the event.

According to the snippets that have emerged so far, Chappelle appears to be largely unhurt and quickly regained his composure after the attack. “It was a trans man,” he tells the crowd later.

Comedian Chris Rock, who had performed a set earlier in the evening, came on stage with Chappelle just after the attack and said, “Was that Will Smith?”

Chappelle has been a controversial figure for his frequent jokes about transgender people and the perception that he is transphobic.

Actor Jamie Foxx is understood to have rushed on stage to help Chappelle and apprehend the attacker.