At a sold-out show in Boston, Massachusetts, on Wednesday night, Rock told fans, who greeted him with a standing ovation, that he didn’t have much to say at the time, according to CNN reporter Chloe Melas.
“I had written a whole show before this weekend. I’m still processing what happened, so at some point I’ll talk about that s**t,” Rock said.
Rock said when he does decide to address the situation, it will be like most of his performances, funny but also serious.
“It’ll be serious. It’ll be funny, but right now I’m going to tell some jokes,” Rock said.
Rock’s Wednesday performances at The Wilbur Theatre were listed as sold out on multiple ticketing platforms. Long lines were captured outside the venue Wednesday.
The comedian is set to perform two shows with the first beginning at 7 p.m. and the second starting at 10 p.m. EST. Rock is also scheduled to appear at The Wilbur Theatre on March 31 and April 1, with two shows nightly. Those shows are also listed as being sold out.
At the 94th Academy Awards, Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, who has hair loss related to alopecia. Rock made a jab at Pinkett Smith’s short haircut.
“Jada, I love ya. G.I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see ya,” Rock said in reference to the 1997 film G.I. Jane starring Demi Moore, who shaves her head to join the U.S. Navy SEALs training.
After the comment, Smith got up from his seat, approached Rock onstage and slapped him across the face.
Smith then returned to his seat and yelled from the audience, “Keep my wife’s name out your f**king mouth.”
Since the infamous slap, Newsweek reported that ticket sales for Rock’s upcoming comedy shows had increased. Ticket marketplace TickPick tweeted on Monday that it had sold more tickets for Rock’s comedy shows in one night than the entire past month.
Smith has since issued a public apology for the violent outburst.
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris,” Smith said. “I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be.”
Rock has not publicly responded to Smith’s apology. Many are on the edge of their seats waiting for Rock’s reaction.
Newsweek reached out to Chris Rock and Will Smith for comment.