LOS ANGELES — The most talked about moment at the Oscars Sunday could have another unforeseen area of impact: Ticket sales for Chris Rock's comedy shows.
Ticket resale site TickPick said Monday it sold "more tickets to see Chris Rock overnight than we did in the past month combined" after the comedian was slapped by Will Smith during the 94th Academy Awards.
Prices for a Wednesday show at Boston's Wilbur Theater are also quite a bit higher than earlier this month -- TickPick PR representative Kyle Zorn said the cheapest ticket sold on March 18 was $46. The cheapest ticket available Tuesday? $411.
"The get-in price for the event was no more than $50 yesterday," Zorn added in a Monday tweet.
The comedian has six shows in Boston later this week, before kicking off his so-called "Chris Rock Ego Death World Tour 2022."
Chris Rock has remained silent so far on the slap, though the LAPD says the comedian declined to file a police report after Will Smith confronted him on stage at Sunday's Academy Awards.
Rock, presenting the Oscar for best documentary feature, made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head: “Jada, I love you. ‘G.I. Jane 2,’ can’t wait to see it, all right?” Pinkett Smith, who has been open about her hair loss due to alopecia, rolled her eyes.
The ceremony quickly took a shocking turn when Will Smith walked onto the stage and took an open-handed swing at Rock, slapping him in the face. Smith walked back to his seat and shouted for Rock to leave Pinkett Smith alone. Rock replied that he was just making a “G.I. Jane” joke — and Smith shouted at Rock to “keep my wife’s name out of your (expletive) mouth."
Smith has since apologized for the incident, though online outcry has continued. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences condemned Smith's actions and said it would launch an inquiry.