The slap that was seen around the world sure has been a good distraction from the current miserable state of affairs at the hands of the Biden administration. When Will Smith walked up on the stage during Chris Rock’s time and bitch slapped the comedian for making a joke at the expense of Smith’s wife, time stood still. The obscenity-laced rant yelled by Smith at Rock caused a freak-out by network censors which lasted for what felt like minutes. Suddenly the otherwise tedious Hollywood award ceremony became interesting.

As the L.A. Times described that moment, Smith turned the ceremony from one meant to display the glamour of Hollywood into the Jerry Springer Show. I admit I was not watching the show until about the last hour. Since 2015 I have covered and written about award show season, though, so I am very familiar of what typically the audience is subjected to by our betters in the entertainment industry. It was during the last hour that this spectacle happened.

Here’s the thing – Smith was laughing at Rock’s joke like the rest of the audience, or most of the audience. If you happened to be watching live, you could have seen that John Travolta was sitting behind Smith and Travolta’s face didn’t move when Rock made the joke. He didn’t laugh as the rest of the audience did and he didn’t clap as some did. He just sat there, which was comment enough. Will Smith could have done that but he’s a hypocrite and thirsty for attention. He only stopped laughing and slapped his friend Chris Rock after noticing that his wife was not pleased. Now he will forever be the actor who can’t behave himself as a civilized human being. That’s not a big deal in Hollywood – the entertainment industry rewards bad behavior with continued employment and financial success – but to the people who buy tickets or stream his work, Smith is damaged goods, at least for a while.

Smith went on to win an Oscar for King Richard, the story of Venus and Serena Williams and their family. Smith has received much acclaim for this performance as Richard Williams, the father of the tennis stars. Richard, now 80 years old, released a statement through his son this morning.

According to his son and spokesperson, Richard Williams does not support violence.

“We don’t know all the details of what happened. But we don’t condone anyone hitting anyone else unless it’s in self-defense,” Richard Williams said via his son, Chavoita LeSane, to NBC News.

LeSane went on to share that Venus and Serena’s father was just as surprised as viewers at home over the now-viral moment. LeSane declined to provide any further comments on behalf of Richards, 80.

Smith won’t suffer any consequences from his profession for his boorish behavior. He physically assaulted someone he’s known a long time on live television to make a joke more than it was. The three have been friends since the 90s. He knows the kind of humor his friend delivers. Rock has a little history of making jokes at the expense of Will and Jada. He did so while hosting in 2016. Rock declined to press charges when offered the opportunity to do so with law enforcement after the incident.

Rock may have the last laugh, though. It is being reported that ticket sales and prices have spiked for his Ego Death World Tour 2022. Americans noticed that after Smith went nuts, he was the one being comforted by his friends and colleagues, not Chris Rock. Rock hasn’t even made any statements about it all, at least not as I write this on Tuesday morning. Why wasn’t he the center of concern and attention? He’s the one who was physically assaulted. Smith should have been escorted out of the building. Instead, he accepted an award and the crowd cheered his tearful semi-apology for his behavior. He apologized to everyone but Rock. That apology didn’t come until Monday. He must have realized by then just how badly he messed up.

Less than 24 hours after Smith slapped Rock for making a joke at his wife’s expense, ticket prices have spiked.

Tickets for Rock’s next comedy show at Boston’s Wilbur Theatre on Wednesday are being sold for a minimum of $441, according to Ticket Club.

Rock is scheduled to perform back-to-back shows Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the Wilbur Theatre. Tickets for his next scheduled stand-up performance, at Atlantic City’s Borgata Events are starting at a minimum $226.

Meanwhile, TickPick, a secondary ticketing marketplace, said Monday morning it had sold more tickets overnight to see Chris Rock than in the past month combined.

Rock’s Ego Death World Tour will include stops at more than 30 cities in North America. The tour will wrap up in November at the Dolby Theatre, where Sunday night’s altercation with Smith took place.

We sold more tickets to see Chris Rock overnight than we did in the past month combined.

— TickPick (@TickPick) March 28, 2022

Chris Rock is being rewarded for his behavior after the attack, as he should be. It was such a cringeworthy thing to see but Rock just stood there and only said Smith “slapped the sh** out of him.” Given Smith’s physical strength, it was amazing that Rock didn’t fall to the ground. I guess we should be happy that he didn’t deliver a right hook to Rock’s face instead of a slap. Smith played Mohammad Ali in a 2001 biological sports movie about the boxing legend, for which he received an Oscar nomination. If he was truly enraged about the joke, wouldn’t he have punched Rock instead of slapping him? Is one man slapping another a thing now? The whole thing was such a phony act by Smith.

I hope Chris Rock makes tons of money on his tour and sells out venues everywhere he goes.