Slap Was a Massive Boost for Chris Rock's Comedy Tour

Being slapped in the face at the Oscars isn't the ideal way to get exposure, but the headline-making Sunday incident definitely seems to have helped ticket sales for Chris Rock's comedy tour. Rock is scheduled to play six shows in Boston Wednesday through Friday before his Ego Death World Tour officially kicks off on Saturday, Variety reports. Secondary ticketing marketplace TickPick said Monday that interest in the tour exploded after the Will Smith slap: It sold more tickets overnight than in all of the previous month, with prices soaring from a minimum $46 per ticket in mid-March to a minimum of $341.

The North American leg of the tour will include 38 dates in more than 30 cities, marking the first time in five years the comedian has gone on tour nationwide with new material. Smith apologized to Rock in an Instagram post Monday, but Rock hasn't publicly commented on the incident, People reports. Police say Rock isn't pressing charges. Sources tell TMZ that Rock and Smith have not spoken since the Oscars and say claims they buried the hatchet after the incident are incorrect. The sources say Rock was "shaken and bewildered" by the slap and had not been aware that Jada Pinkett Smith, whose shaved head he joked about, suffers from alopecia. (More Chris Rock stories.)