The slap Chris Rock received from Oscar-winning actor Will Smith might have stung but it also appears to have sent sales for the comedian's upcoming show through the roof.
According to at least one ticketing site, tickets for the Rock's "Ego Death World Tour" skyrocketed after Smith assaulted the former on stage at during Sunday's 94th Academy Awards ceremony.
"We sold more tickets to see Chris Rock overnight than we did in the past month combined," wrote ticket-selling site TickPick on Twitter on Monday.
Rock had announced the tour over Instagram on February 23, promising "all-new material" and an "introspective" program that would be "very personal and very funny."
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Newsweek reported seeing an increase in the price of tickets for Rock's show. According to the media outlet, tickets for a table at Rock's upcoming performance on Friday at Boston's Wilbur Theater went from $338 on Monday morning, up to $450 within an hour.
While presenting the award for best documentary on Sunday, Rock joked that Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, should star in "G.I. Jane 2" because of her shaved head. Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia – a hair loss condition — and the joke appeared to rile her husband, who then stormed the stage and slapped Rock.
However, the beef between the two men might have been six years in the making, with Rock having also made fun of Pinkett Smith for not being invited to the Oscars back in 2016.
Smith later went on to win the best actor award for his performance in "King Richard" and apologized to the Academy for the altercation during his acceptance speech. The actor has also apologized publicly to Rock, writing in an Instagram post that he was "out of line" and "wrong" to have slapped the comedian.
Business Insider