Well damn. First Will Smith slaps Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars and now Dave Chapelle gets tackled by a crazed fan while doing his stand-up routine. One thing is clear. Better security is needed for these events.
This could mean that a lot of people want to become famous or trending and will do anything to attain it. Now this guy Isaiah Lee’s name will be trending for several weeks, if not months. He now has his 15 minutes of fame. He took a beat down by security as well as having Jamie Foxx and Busta Rhymes jump in to defend Chapelle’s honor. Isaiah Lee also was sent to jail on $30,000 bail. But at least he has his 15 minutes of fame.
This attack on Dave Chapelle by the crazed fan is indicative of this social media, attention-whoring era, where everyone wants to be famous, known, and seen. Everyone wants their name trending on Google searches, YouTube, and there Facebook timeline. Isaiah Lee has definitely accomplished this. And many people want to be seen and noticed by any means necessary- even if it’s bad publicity. It looks like this generation and older generations that are influenced by the current era are I taking on the celebrity motto of “all publicity is good publicity.” The colloquial expression used to describe this is “clout chasing.”
I think with social media platforms connecting us all globally from the privacy of our home, it’s good to sell yourself and whatever product you’re trying to sell. You can even sell yourself and your brand with YouTube videos, Facebook lives, and Tik Tok videos. It’s absolutely ridiculous to embarrass yourself just for attention and then hope to do a bait and switch to some other product or service that you’re selling.
Isaiah Lee definitely embarrassed himself for fame and clout. This will probably give Dave Chapelle more material to joke about in his routine and Jamie Foxx may even joke about beating up a crazed fan with Busta Rhymes. Chris Rock already quipped a question of was it Will Smith who ran on stage. Dave Chapelle, Jamie Foxx, Chris Rock, and Busta Rhymes may have highly rated interviews the next time they discuss the issue. So Isaiah Lee might have only helped fuel extra attention to already established stars as opposed to helping to build his brand.
To make a long story short, it’s really not worth it to embarrass yourself with shocking behavior for fame and clout. Hopefully Chapelle, other comedians, and other entertainers acquire better security or keep the top level security they already have.
