Chris Rock’s comedy tour sales sky-rocket after Oscars fiasco, tickets going for nearly Rs 20,000 per seat
Ticket sales for comedian Chris Rock’s first world tour in over five years have sky-rocketed after he was slapped Will Smith at the Oscars. Rock’s Ego Death World Tour will kick off on April 2 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Rock was slapped Smith at Monday’s Oscars after he joked about the appearance of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. While the actor appeared to laugh initially, a few moments later, he was seen striding towards the stage, where he hit Rock. From his seat, he continued yelling expletives at the comedian, as the audience fell silent. He later apologised for his actions, and Rock has reportedly declined to file a police complaint.
The Hollywood Reporter said that StubHub, a ticket resale company, experienced a 25x jump in sales for Rock’s tour in the 48 hours since the Oscars, as compared to the entirety of March. Sales in the last two days have overtaken total March sales. And the average price has increased from between $150-$200 to $250 (around Rs 19,000) per ticket.
“Now that we are 48 hours from Sunday evening, it’s evident that demand for Chris Rock shows has jumped dramatically, based on our ticket buying trends on StubHub,” Mike Silveira, spokesperson for StubHub told The Hollywood Reporter. “At this stage in his tour, on an average day, we’d expect to see a spike in sales in the 24 or 48 hours prior to a show date as last-minute sales roll in – but it is incredibly unusual to see the spike we have experienced. With daily sales remarkably more than twenty-five times higher than the average we have seen in the last month, we anticipate this interest will likely sustain for a short time.”
Rock has remained silent on the affair, even as Smith posted a public apology and Pinkett Smith posted a vague Instagram picture. The Academy said that it doesn’t condone violence, and its board of governors will convene for a review meeting on Wednesday. Rock, one of the world’s most popular stand-up comics, has twice hosted the Oscars.
