So you know how they say all publicity is good publicity? It’s true!
While observers might look at Will Smith slapping Chris Rock after Rock made a joke at the Oscars at Jada Pinkett Smith’s expense as a PR nightmare, Rock himself seems to be reaping the benefit. He’s about to go on a standup comedy tour starting later this week and he’s seen a huge spike in both ticket sales and ticket prices in the immediate aftermath of the incident at the Oscars.
According to the ticket marketplace website TickPick, they sold more tickets in the night after Smith slapped Rock on stage at the Dolby Theatre than they had in the entire previous month.
Not only is he selling more tickets, the price for available tickets is going up on the secondary market. Rock’s Ego Death World Tour kicks off at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston on Wednesday. Tickets for the show were selling for around $45 dollars ten days ago. Yesterday, the cheapest ticket you could find was going for about ten times that amount.
It’s similar story up and down his tour; if you want to buy a ticket in Atlantic City it’ll cost you at least $240 on Stubhub. At that website, you won’t find available tickets on the tour for less than $100 until April 22, when Rock is performing in Baltimore.
Rock has yet to make a public statement about Smith slapping him; yesterday Smith publicly apologized to Rock and the Academy in a statement on Instagram. (“I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”) One imagines — and all those ticket buyers imagine — Rock will have plenty of stuff on his mind when he takes the stage in Boston tomorrow night. Let’s just hope the audience stays in their seats to hear it.
Things That Only Happen in the Movies
