DPAC adds third Chris Rock show as sales surge after Will Smith slap at Oscars
The Durham Performing Arts Center has added a third Chris Rock show as ticket sales surge across the country following Sundays Oscars.
Tickets already were sold out for Rock’s two back-to-back appearances on April 16 and 17 as part of his Ego Death World Tour, with the second date added in February “by popular demand,” the venue said.
Friday, DPAC said a third show would be added Wednesday, June 8. Tickets go on sale April 4 at 10 a.m.
Tickets for Rock’s first two shows in Durham went on sale Feb. 25, but sales for his upcoming tour dates across the country have surged since the 94th Academy Awards ceremony Sunday night, according to numerous media outlets. The 57-year-old comedian has received newfound global attention following a viral moment in which fellow actor Will Smith slapped him across the face during the broadcast.
Representatives for DPAC did not respond The News & Observer’s questions to confirm when Rock’s North Carolina shows sold out.
Seats for one of Rock’s DPAC appearances were going for $400 and up on Wednesday morning on Ticketmaster. On StubHub, tickets are over $100 with a few in the $600 range and one Orchestra seat for $1,164.
Before the Oscars, DPAC noted that Rock’s tour is his first in five years and that Durham is his only stop in the Carolinas.
Secondary ticketing marketplace TickPick said on Twitter that they sold more tickets to the comedian’s tour after the Oscars than they did in the past month combined, according to Variety.
Tickets for Rock’s shows in Boston Thursday and Friday shot up from around $50 to $460 and up earlier this week, Billboard reported. Tour dates are spread out across the U.S. through November.
Smith’s brazen and controversial attack on Rock occurred after Rock joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s bald head.
Pinkett Smith, Will Smith’s wife, has alopecia, a disease that causes hair loss.
Smith, who accepted an Academy Award for Best Actor in his movie “King Richard” later that night after the altercation, has since apologized publicly to Rock for slapping him.
Rock addressed the incident Thursday night in Boston at his first show, McClatchy News reported.
“How was your weekend?” he began, heard in audio obtained by Variety. “... I’m still kind of processing what happened.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 10:23 AM.
