Chris Rock Ticket Sales Blew Up After The Oscars & Fans Are Here For The Will Smith Jokes
Everyone's waiting for the new material. 👋
Chris Rock.
No one wants to get slapped by Will Smith on live TV, but Chris Rock seems to be cashing in on the infamous Oscars incident with soaring ticket sales for his show.
TickPick, a ticket reseller for Rock's Ego Death World Tour, says it saw a dramatic overnight increase in sales for the comedian's live show this year.
"We sold more tickets to see Chris Rock overnight than we did in the past month combined," TickPick tweeted on Monday after the incident made international headlines.
We sold more tickets to see Chris Rock overnight than we did in the past month combined.— TickPick (@TickPick) 1648478347
The demand seems to be driven by fans who are hoping that Rock will talk about the Will Smith incident in his act, which kicks off on April 2. Rock's three-night pre-tour stint in Boston this week is also sold out already, Ticketmaster shows.
The cheapest resale ticket for Rock's Boston show on Wednesday went from $46 on March 18 to $411 after the Oscars, a TickPick spokesperson told Fortune.
Rock took a hit from Smith during Sunday night's live broadcast of the Academy Awards after he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's bald head.
"Will Smith just smacked the s--- out of me," Rock said after Smith struck him.
Smith apologized for the incident late Monday, and Rock hadn't spoken publicly about it as of Tuesday morning. There's no guarantee he'll work it into his show, although fans are hoping he'll say something soon.
"I heard Chris Rock comedy tour just added a few more shows," tweeted former NFL player Reggie Bush.
I heard Chris Rock comedy tour just added a few more shows— Reggie Bush (@Reggie Bush) 1648440031
"I think I need to go to the Comedy Cellar in NYC every night until Chris Rock shows up and has material about getting the s--- slapped out of him in front of the whole world," said another Twitter user.
"Chris Rock has a performance Wednesday in Boston," NBA writer Tim Reynolds tweeted. "I predict new material."
Others suggested that Rock held back on roasting Smith right after the slap, opting instead to save it for his act.
After being told by Smith to keep Pinkett Smith's name out of his mouth, Rock replied, "I'm going to, OK? Oh, I could... OK."
He almost gave us a preview, then remembered to not waste the material.pic.twitter.com/YHWW40PPNm— Bobbi (@Bobbi) 1648543414
Diddy recently said that Smith and Rock settled their feud shortly after the Oscars, and Smith publicly apologized to the comedian in a statement on Monday.
We'll be watching to see what, if anything, Rock says about the incident on Wednesday!