Chappelle Banana Peel Incident Gone Viral

Mayor 'appalled' while comedian says assault was racist

It started with a simple banana peel.

"Hey, who just threw a banana peel?" said comedian Dave Chappelle as he performed a stand-up routine last night in Santa Fe at The Lensic. "Hey, would you guys like to see your favorite comedian beat the shit out of somebody?"

Now, it appears to have gotten out of hand.

Today, the banana incident went viral, making the websites of Time, CBS Las Vegas, USA Today, among several others. More unsavory media like TMZ ran the story with sensational headlines like "Drunken Idiot Arrested For Throwing Banana Peel."

According to multiple reports, the incident started when Chappelle saw a member of the audience sketching a picture who suggested to Chappelle that he call him "Johnny Appleseed." Chappelle then made jokes about the name. That's when the person's friend, Santa Fe resident Christian Englander, threw the banana peel at Chappelle after being apparently upset over the jokes.

Chappelle didn't take to the incident kindly.

"First of all," he explained on the stage, "I am not going to let white people ruin bananas for me. Bitch."

Then Chappelle referred a member of the stage crew, Corey, who jumped down and tried to find Englander, who attempted to flee.

"Corey's one of my black friends from Harlem," Chappelle told the audience. "Corey, when you find that motherfucker, do not throw him out. Bring him to me."

Chappelle then explained that not only could he not believe that someone threw a banana peel on stage, but that someone had a banana peel on them in the first place. Englander later told police that he downed a shot of 99 Bananas vodka and ate the banana before the show.

Chappelle later called the incident racist and spoke of pressing charges against Englander, who reports say was not remorseful for the incident.

Englander was arrested by Santa Fe Police for suspicion of disorderly conduct and battery and remained in jail today. And Englander faced plenty of public shaming today on Facebook, while TheRoot.com described him as the person who "will forever be known as the man who threw a banana peel at Dave Chappelle and ended up behind bars."

The Santa Fe New Mexican later quoted Mayor Javier Gonzales as "appalled" over the incident.  Read the police report courtesy of thesmokinggun.com.

Editors Note: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated that Dave Chappelle called the artist "Johnny Appleseed." The artist suggested the name, which led to Chappelle joking about it.

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