Ticket sales for Chris Rock’s comedy tour have reportedly surged after he was slapped by Will Smith at the 2022 Oscars.
Five of Rock’s shows in Boston are officially sold out, according to TMZ. Reports are circulating on social media that tickets are selling for astounding prices.
Chris Rock’s first show following his incident with Will Smith takes place tomorrow night in Boston. Here are current ticket prices before fees on @stubhub.
On Sunday night, tickets were selling for $125 each. pic.twitter.com/cMS6FbhdeO
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) March 30, 2022
Rock’s tour is taking him to New York City, Baltimore, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington D.C, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Las Vegas throughout the rest of 2022, Billboard reported. Before he was slapped, tickets were priced around $50 each, the outlet noted.
Passes to the upcoming shows are reportedly reaching between $70 to $150 depending on the date and location, Billboard continued. (RELATED: Will Smith’s ‘Slapgate’ Has Fractured Both Political Parties)
Rock was slapped by Smith after making a very mild joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sunday at the Oscars. The American broadcasters cut the audio from the ceremony immediately following the slap, but Australia kept everything live. Smith can clearly be heard yelling, “keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth.”
Here’s the unedited Will Smith slap of Chris Rock. This looks real. They bleeped it all out on the American version. pic.twitter.com/2fIoL05gO8
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) March 28, 2022
Smith went on to win “Best Actor,” for his portrayal of Venus and Serena Williams’ father in “King Richard,” as his colleagues in the entertainment industry seemingly allowed the actor’s physical assault to blow over. In the days since, a wealth of celebrities have come out to criticize Smith, including comedians Jim Carrey, Howard Stern, Kathy Griffin, David Spade and Michael Che, according to Radar Online.
O.J. Simpson defended Smith, saying he “understood the feeling.” In the words of Daily Caller editor David Hookstead, O.J. Simpson is “not exactly the kind of guy you want in your corner in a situation like this.”
In the 24 hours following the slap, opinions were fairly torn between politicians and commentators as a number of “Squad” members defended Smith’s casual physical assault of a man half his size. Political commentators used the incident to shed light on the difference in treatment between celebrities and real Americans (you know, those people the “Squad” are supposed to represent).
‘SLAP’ IN THE FACE: @JesseBWatters compares Will Smith being forgiven for violent Oscars outburst to schoolboard parent who was tackled and arrested after speaking out about attack on his own daughter. @jesseprimetime pic.twitter.com/U4NOn2WxAU
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 30, 2022
Though Diddy allegedly told TMZ that Smith apologized to Rock, a plethora of sources close to TMZ say that Smith and Rock have not spoken. Instead of calling Rock to apologize, Smith posted an apology to his social media.