A man is being accused of assaulting a police officer after he was allegedly forcibly removed from the audience of Chris Rock‘s Wednesday night comedy show at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts.
Of course, all eyes were on Rock’s performance as fans eagerly awaited his first public comments in the days after he was infamously slapped on stage by Will Smith during this past Sunday night’s Oscars telecast.
Related: Chris Rock Opened Up About Bullying And Shocking Violence In Weeks Prior To Oscars Slap
Based on the sound of several reports from the scene on Wednesday, it would seem that the arrest was unrelated to Rock, his on-stage material, or the Oscars aftermath. NewsCenter 5 in Boston reports that the first of Rock’s two shows that evening was “disturbed by an altercation in the audience” which happened just “a few minutes after the comedian finished acknowledging” Sunday night’s shocking slap on live TV.
Per the outlet, two men were escorted out of the venue by Boston police officers. One of the men was allegedly combative with the officers, and at one point supposedly even lunged at them. One officer responded by using pepper spray on the man to subdue him; that man was then arrested by officers and taken away from the theater in handcuffs. It’s unclear what happened to the other man reportedly removed from the theater.
The Wrap further reports that “at least five officers” ran into the Wilbur Theatre at one point to help subdue the individuals allegedly involved and take control of the situation. That outlet claims that a father and son were the pair of men asked to leave the venue — and the issue was supposedly about them not wearing masks alongside other patrons. The outlet further reported that the father, who is Black, allegedly claimed race was a factor in their treatment. At one point, the man was allegedly heard by witnesses telling cops that they had been “in the white section” of seating prior to being led outside.
The department confirmed to The Wrap that there was a “removal” during the show, and “Chris Rock is fine.” Boston police officials later reported that the man was charged with “assault and battery on a police officer and assault and battery under the domestic violence statute.” The arrested man is expected to be arraigned on Thursday morning in court.
Related: Will Smith Reportedly ‘Refused’ To Leave The Oscars After The Chris Rock Slap?!
WCVB reports that Rock briefly acknowledged the flare-up in the audience at the time, but quickly moved on with his set. Of course, the audience was on the edges of their seats waiting to hear what Chris would say about Sunday’s fracas with Smith. And, as we previously reported, the comedian was relatively mum on speaking out, instead preferring to let the audience know that he would be ready to provide a deeper comment soon:
“I don’t have a bunch of s**t about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I have a whole show I wrote before this weekend. I’m still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point I’ll talk about that s**t, and it will be serious and funny.”
Here is more on the incident, from CBS Boston (below):
Jeez!
Clearly, there must have been a lot of tension in that room on Wednesday night for the sold-out show.
Reactions, Perezcious readers?
