In audio leaked from Chris Rock's stand-up performance in Boston, the Saturday Night Live alum said that he's “processing” the moment Will Smith stormed the stage during the Oscars awards ceremony and punched him in the face, before running back to his seat, from which Smith yelled, “Keep my wife's name out of your f**king mouth!” Smith was responding to Rock’s “comical” remarks about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hairstyle.
“Whoa, okay!” Chris Rock, wearing an all-white suit, spoke to massive applause and standing ovations. “Yo, let me do the show!”
The 3,000-pound elephant in the room was addressed when Rock stated, “How was your weekend? I don't have a bunch of shit about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I'm still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point, I'll talk about that s**t. And it will be serious and funny.”
A fan could be heard chanting “F**k Will Smith!” as Rock went on with his routine.
“I'm going to tell some jokes. It's nice to just be out,” the comedian concluded.
Chris Rock’s ticket sales immediately soared after the incident, driving prices as high as $300 in some instances, with TickPick reporting that they “sold more tickets to see Chris Rock overnight than we did in the past three months combined.” As per the publication Variety, Ticketmaster reported that ticket prices for Chris Rock's concerts in the Boston area had increased to more than $800.
Prices started at $49.50; however, following the scandal at the Oscars, tickets were going for anywhere from $800 to $8,000 on other websites. The 7:15 P.M. event was in particular demand due to the fact that people were anticipating it to be the first time that Rock responded publicly to Smith's violent remarks and actions.
A StubHub spokesperson, Mike Silveira, said that the site has seen “more than 25 times the daily sales” during the last two days compared to the previous month. “It is incredibly unusual to see the spike we have experienced.”
Will Smith issued an Instagram apology on Monday, describing his actions as “inexcusable.” “Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable,” the actor declared.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced on Wednesday that it has started “disciplinary proceedings” against Will Smith.
