Man Who Threw Banana Peel At Dave Chappelle During Performance Now Suing Him And Bodyguard For Assault
Christian Englander, the man who threw a banana peel at Dave Chappelle back in 2015, contends that the comedian's bodyguards assaulted him during the commotion.
A Slippery Slope
The incident happened at a Santa Fe, New Mexico stand-up comedy show three years ago. Englander faced charges for disturbing the peace and battery after he acknowledged chucking the peel at Chappelle.
Although the black comedian argued it was a racist act, because Englander is a white man, he refused to describe it as such. He infamously told Chappelle, who asked him whether he knew bananas were racist, that he didn't agree with the description.
Authorities eventually dropped the charges after Chappelle refused to participate in the prosecution.
No Laughing Matter
Now it seems Englander is trying to get back at the comedian. His lawsuit argues that he was struck by Chappelle's bodyguard twice as he was being restrained, after throwing the peel at him.
Englander is suing both Chappelle and a man presumed to be his bodyguard. He filed the charges on Friday.
Englander maintains he threw the peel at Chappelle only because he was angry about something the comedian said during the show.
Allegedly, something offensive was said about Englander's friend, although that still doesn't explain why he brought a banana peel into a comedy show in the first place.
The initial report did not mention Englander's assault claim. His lawyer said it would have been raised if Englander ended up going on trial back in 2015.
Chappelle recalled the incident during his 2017 stand-up special Deep in the Heart of Texas: Dave Chapelle Live at Austin City Limits. The comedian described the incident as "Bananagate," and it became the basis of his opening joke.
He argued that the attack was premeditated because of how brown the peel in question was.
Courting Controversy Elsewhere
Chappelle is no stranger to controversy. The comedian came under fire for his ill-advised jokes about transgender people and sexual misconduct in his most recent Netflix specials.
A fan wrote an open letter to Chappelle in relation to the trans jokes and the comedian mocked the said plea.
After Chappelle made a reference to a fan writing him a letter in one of his shows, that same fan came forward to again express his disappointment with the comedian's stance on these important issues.
Chappelle also made light of the #MeToo movement, much to the disgust of many prominent commentators.
