Howie Mandel admits he's 'really afraid' to perform after Dave Chappelle attack: 'I don't want to go onstage'

• Howie Mandel recently spoke out about his fear of performing after Dave Chappelle was attacked onstage.
• The "America's Got Talent" judge told Billy Bush that he feels "really afraid" about going onstage.

"America's Got Talent" judge Howie Mandel admitted he's fearful about performing stand-up comedy after fellow comedian Dave Chappelle was attacked on stage earlier this week.

"That hit —no pun intended — that hit very deeply," he told "Extra's" Billy Bush. "My biggest fear 40 years ago was not getting a laugh, and then cancel culture came along, and then it was like, 'Oh my God, if somebody doesn't like your joke or you overstepped a line, you could lose your career,' and then after the Academy Awards, I said, 'violence triggers violence.'"

Mandel was referring to the now-infamous moment during this year's Oscars when Oscar winner Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock. The heated incident came after Rock made a joke about the bald head of Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who suffers from alopecia, an autoimmune disorder.

"This is one step that kind of opens a door and triggers somebody if they don't like what you're saying or they're offended by what you're saying," Mandel continued. "It's kind of okay because it's been done, to be violent, and that's what my fear was."

The "America's Got Talent" judge added that watching Chappelle get assaulted onstage earlier this week "confirmed" his "fear."

"I was watching it kind of live on Twitter and I turned to my wife and I said, 'I don't want to. I don't want to go on stage. I'm just really afraid,'" he admitted.

Chappelle was performing at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles for the "Netflix is a Joke" comedy festival on Tuesday night when a man rushed and tackled him onstage, Insider previously reported.

ABC journalist Stephanie Wash tweeted that Chappelle was "rushed and attacked" by the man before being "surrounded by security."

In a statement shared with Insider on Wednesday, Chappelle's rep said that the comic "refuses to allow last night's incident to overshadow the magic of this historic moment."

Sims added that Chappelle ties with British comedy troupe Monty Python as "the most headlined shows by any comedian at the Hollywood Bowl, reaching 70k fans of diverse backgrounds."