Dave Chappelle shares the story of when he was choked by a police officer on a movie set.
Dave Chappelle revealed in a recent standup set in New Orleans on Thursday, that he had been choked by police while filming in the city several years ago.
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According to reporters, New Orleans reporter Jarvis DeBarry recounted what Chapelle said during his standup set.
The comedian told the crowd he was playing a mugger in a movie, presumably the 1993 movie Undercover Blues, the newspaper reported. Chapelle was a teenager at the time. He said he stepped off the movie set, which was surrounded by police tape, and when he stepped back under the tape to return to the set a police officer started choking him.
Chappelle, according to the newspaper, stated that a woman working on set yelled to the officer that he belonged there, and the officer responded by asking why the comedian hadn’t said anything. [via]
Dave Chappelle’s rep confirmed the comedian’s story and told the Hollywood Reporter the following:
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Dave’s experience is a ‘Fact of Blackness,'” Sims told The Hollywood Reporter in an email. “What happened to him in the early 90’s, happened to Black men in the 60’s, the 50’s… and is something that they have come to expect when dealing with police, regardless of the circumstances.”
Dave Chappelle’s story comes out following weeks of nationwide protests surrounding the death of Eric Garner, who was choked to death by a police officer in July.
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