Chris Rock's comedy tour ticket sales surge after Will Smith slap

The physical altercation between Chris Rock and Will Smith at the Oscars this weekend has a silver lining for the victim – ticket sales for the comedian’s upcoming tour have boomed.

Ticketing site TickPick announced on Twitter Monday that it sold more tickets to see Rock’s Ego Death overnight than it had the past month combined.

We sold more tickets to see Chris Rock overnight than we did in the past month combined.

— TickPick (@TickPick) March 28, 2022

For example, the cheapest tickets to see Rock perform standup at Boston’s Wilbur Theater on Wednesday were sold for $46 on Mar. 18. The cheapest seats had increased to $411 by Monday, according to TickPick’s public representative Kyle Zorn.

Chris Rock performs at Wilbur Theatre on Wednesday...

$46: Cheapest ticket sold on March 18th

$411: Cheapest ticket currently available

(Data via @TickPick)

— Kyle Zorn (@Kyle_Zorn) March 28, 2022

The ticket time told CBS News that 51% of its sales for Chris Rock’s standup tour, which went on sale on Feb. 24, have come since the Oscars. In just the last week, 88% of Rock’s ticket sales came through after the Oscars.

The tickets for his Friday show at the same Wilbur Theater now start at $503. That show is sold out on Ticketmaster, another ticketing site.

The comedian’s tour currently has 38 dates set.

Rock was involved in a shocking incident while hosting the Oscars on Sunday evening after he made a joke about Smith’s wife’s bald head. The actor walked up onto the stage and struck Rock across the face, went back to his seat, and yelled: “Keep my wife’s name out of your mouth.”

Smith apologized to the audience and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences during his acceptance speech for Best Actor, awarded for his portrayal of Venus and Serena Williams’ father in the film “Kind Richard.”

The actor also issued an apology to Rock directly on Instagram Monday afternoon.