Prominent academic and activist Marc Lamont Hill recently offered a candid, granular account of a distressing 2024 incident in which an alleged stalker assaulted him onstage.
Speaking on the June 12 episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, Hill confirmed he was “pepper-sprayed” during the Q&A segment of a speaking engagement held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in Philadelphia, directly across from his independent bookstore, Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books.
“I was mad as shit,” Hill recounted to his co-hosts, who exhibited amusement at the bizarre narrative. Pressed on whether he pursued legal action or pressed charges against the alleged perpetrator—actions that could ostensibly conflict with his long-held public stances on the criminal justice system—Hill was unequivocal. “Sued? N***a, please. You can hear me on the tape say, ‘Do not call the police,’” he asserted. “I walk it like I talk it. She was mentally ill. She had been stalking me for a couple of weeks, and I didn’t know. I never met her before.”
Hill’s co-hosts continued to suggest the incident stemmed from a soured extramarital affair facetiously.
“None of this is true. She was crazy as f*ck,” Hill countered, meticulously detailing the woman’s behavior. “I was standing there, giving a speech. She stands up for a Q&A. She had written a letter to me, saying that she was trying to talk to me about how the CIA and Joe Biden were trying to frame her for murder.” Hill further revealed that the woman had previously defaced his bookstore with red spray paint and had intended to hurl a brick through its window before police intervention.
According to authorities, he claimed, they merely issued the woman a ticket and released her.
He recollected the moments preceding the attack with chilling clarity, initially dismissing the woman until she approached the microphone and uttered her name. “It started clicking who she was,” he described. “I’m looking at security. She was like, ‘I just want to talk about what happened to me.’ And I was like, ‘I just want to be clear that I’ve never met you before.’ [She said], ‘You don’t know me, Marc? You don’t know me, Marc?’ She starts coming toward me. I said, ‘I need you to stop walking’ … I’m sitting in the chair … I’m thinking she’s reaching for a gun. I’m thinking, ‘If she’s about to shoot me, this is a really terrible way to die.’”
Before he could react, she deployed the spray.
“She got me in the eye,” Hill recalled.
Joe Budden TV found and posted the video footage of the 2024 attack online, depicting the woman approaching Hill, extracting a can of pepper spray from her pocket, and deploying it.
The 46-year-old activist and journalist promptly recoiled behind the stage curtains, as a man leaped in to intervene to restrain the assailant. Hill returned to the stage moments later, informing the audience of the woman’s prior vandalism at his bookstore and explicitly stating, “We’re not gonna call the cops.”
Marc Lamont Hill mentioned on the Joe Budden podcast that he was pepper sprayed once while speaking. Welp JBTV found the files!
(Notice how he tells them not to call the police proving MLH ain’t just talk )pic.twitter.com/FH0ID1f0vz
— After Hours X JBTV (@JBTVSpaces) June 11, 2025
Hill later elucidated the situation via a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, reassuring his followers of his well-being. He affirmed that he has since engaged in a restorative process with the woman and her family to facilitate her recovery.
“The video of me being pepper-sprayed was from January 2024,” he wrote. “At the time, the attacker believed that I was part of a conspiracy (along with the CIA, Mumia Abu Jamal, and the president) to cover up traumatic events from her childhood. Since then, after refusing to press charges, I have worked with her family and community members to enable a restorative process.”
He elaborated on her circumstances: “Through the process, I have learned that she did indeed suffer significant childhood abuse, as well as serious mental health challenges that continue to this day. Instead of criminal prosecution, I have done my best to make sure that she receives social and mental health support to help her heal as best as possible.”
I’m fine, everyone. The video of me being pepper sprayed was from January 2024. At the time, the attacker believed that I was part of a conspiracy (along with the CIA, Mumia Abu Jamal, and the president) to cover-up traumatic events from her childhood. Since then, after refusing…
— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) June 12, 2025
MLH is definitely the man for this.
RELATED CONTENT: K. Michelle’s Expertly Clears Delusional Journo During Interview, Affirming Her Rightful Place In Country Music
