Sales for Chris Rock’s stand-up tour have skyrocketed after the comedian was slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars on Sunday night, according to one retailer.
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The dramatic on-stage incident saw Smith storm up to Rock and slap him in the face, much to the surprise of everyone in the venue. It came after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaven head, which is a result of alopecia.
After returning to his seat, Smith shouted: "Keep my wife's name out your f**king mouth."
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The unexpected moment has since caused great debate online, with many criticising Rock’s low blow against Pinkett Smith, and others saying Smith should never have made things physical.
But one ticket website has revealed it sold more tickets to Rock’s forthcoming tour in the wake of the spat than it has done in the past month.
Rock’s tour was announced last month, with a promise of ‘very funny’ new material as it kicks off with a 38-date North American leg – starting in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in April.
The star wrote on Instagram: “Ego Death World Tour 2022 all new material introspective very personal and very funny. Can’t wait to show you. The link for tickets is in my bio.”
According to ticket-selling site TickPick, sales are going very well indeed, with the company tweeting on Monday: “We sold more tickets to see Chris Rock overnight than we did in the past month combined.”
One person commented: "July 21-25 in the NYC with Kevin Hart seems really intriguing."
Another joked: "He’s got some new material."
After Smith slapped Rock, The Academy shared a statement online to say it did not condone violence.
It wrote on Twitter: "The Academy does not condone violence of any form.
We sold more tickets to see Chris Rock overnight than we did in the past month combined.
— TickPick (@TickPick) March 28, 2022
"Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world."
Smith also addressed what happened as he collected his first-ever Oscar - for the Best Actor category - saying: "I want to apologise to the Academy. I want to apologise to all my fellow nominees."
He added: "Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things."
The star also took to Instagram to directly apologise to Rock following the incident. "Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive," he wrote.
"My behaviour at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally.
"I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness."
At the Oscars, Smith beat out competition from Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth, Javier Bardem in Being the Ricardos, Benedict Cumberbatch in The Power of the Dog and Andrew Garfield in Tick, Tick...Boom!
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