Interest in comedian Chris Rock has apparently surged following him getting slapped by Will Smith on live TV at Sunday’s Academy Awards — so much that Rock has added a second date to his upcoming Detroit tour stop.
According to a press release sent Wednesday, the second Detroit date of Rock’s “Ego Death World Tour 2022” was added “due to overwhelming demand.” It’s the comedian's first world tour in more than five years.
The second date will be held at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17 at Detroit’s Fox Theatre, joining the previously announced Fox Theatre date on Friday, Sept. 16.
Tickets for the new date start at $49.50 and go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 1 at 313Presents.com, LiveNation.com, Ticketmaster.com, and the Little Caesars Arena box office.
According to the release, some tickets are still available for the Friday date as well.
In a practice increasingly embraced by comedians as well as famously tech-critical artists like Jack White, cellphones are banned at both events. Upon arrival, guests are asked to put their phone in a locked pouch, which can be accessed only in designated phone use areas at the venue.
Anyone caught using a phone will be booted from the venue, the press release says.
Smith and Rock’s altercation happened during Sunday’s Oscars Awards ceremony after the comedian made a crack that Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, looked like “G.I. Jane” with her shaved head, causing Pinkett Smith to roll her eyes. (Pinkett Smith has publicly spoken about having alopecia, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss. It wasn’t clear if Rock knew that.) After initially laughing at the joke, Smith stormed the stage and slapped Rock. When he returned to his seat, Smith screamed, “Keep my wife’s name out your fucking mouth!”
A seemingly stunned Rock responded by saying, “Wow… Will Smith just smacked the shit out of me,” adding, “that was the greatest night in the history of television,” before announcing the winner for the best documentary, Roots drummer Questlove’s Summer of Soul.
Stay connected with Detroit Metro Times. Subscribe to our newsletters, and follow us on Google News, Apple News, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, or TikTok.
