Chris Rock tickets for live tour spike after Will Smith Oscars slap

Comedian is touring in the US and the UK for his Ego Death tour

Chris Rock kicks off his comedy tour this week – if only there were a major news event he could use in his material...

Just days after being slapped by Will Smith while presenting the Oscars, the comedian will return to the stage at Boston’s Wilbur Theatre for a run of shows, before traveling across the US and UK for his Ego Death World Tour.

The incident between Smith and Rock at the 94th Academy Awards will go down as one of the most outrageous events in awards show history. Fortunately for Rock, there is a silver lining.

Ticket marketplace site TickPick has tweeted that it sold more tickets to Rock’s tour in the night following the Oscars than it did in the entire month preceding.

It was also reported that individual ticket prices had surged from $46 (£35) to $411 (£314) for the cheapest seats available as of Monday evening (28 March), an increase of almost 800 per cent.

Rock will perform in more than 30 cities across the states as well as London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds in the UK in May.

“Ego Death World Tour 2022 all new material introspective very personal and very funny,” Rock wrote on Instagram when announcing the tour in February. “Can’t wait to show you. The link for tickets is in my bio.”

Rock is also teaming up with Kevin Hart for a series of shows in July called Only Headliners Allowed​​​ at venues in New York and New Jersey.

Smith apologised to Rock early Tuesday (29 March) after failing to do so in his speech after winning the Oscar for Best Actor.

“I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong,” he wrote in a statement published on social media.

The incident came after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head while presenting the award for Best Documentary. He called her GI Jane in reference to the 1997 Demi Moore movie about a female special forces recruit (who has a shaved head).

Pinkett Smith suffers from alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that causes your hair to come out, and has spoken about it on multiple occasions in the past.

The Academy has said it may discipline the actor for the incident.

“The Academy condemns the actions of Mr Smith at last night’s show,” said the organisation in a statement, following the controversy. “We have officially started a formal review around the incident and will explore further action and consequences in accordance with our Bylaws, Standards of Conduct and California law.”

Find the full list of 2022 Oscar winners here. See the latest updates and reactions from the dramatic ceremony here, and read about the biggest talking points here.