Chris Rock and Will Smith will face off against each other at Madison Square Garden on October 1 (photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
THE REMATCH
Madison Square Garden
31st – 33rd Sts. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Saturday, October 1, $99-$999
www.SmithVsRockThe Rematch.com
I wasn’t planning on writing anything about the Will Smith / Chris Rock debacle at this year’s Oscars, but this is just too good to pass up, especially for those who thought that the whole Slap Heard Round the World was staged. In another confrontation that no one saw coming, Smith, who won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of the father of Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard, and Rock, a former Oscar host who wrote, directed, and starred in Top Five, are actually stepping into the ring in a rematch taking place October 1 at Madison Square Garden. (Rock is currently on his Ego Death national tour that brings him to Radio City Music Hall October 6-7.) They won’t be donning gloves and fighting at the bell, but they will be entering the famous squared circle and going at it Eminem style, attacking each other with raps, spoken word, and jokes.
Judging ringside will be Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, Michael “Are You Ready to Rumble!” Buffer, and Robin Givens, who was married to former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson for one tumultuous year. The exact details, including the specific rules, have not been announced, but there are rumors that the national anthem will be performed by Whoopi Goldberg. Tickets go on sale today (April 1) at noon; there are VIP packages for $999 in which guests can get a photo with Rock, who was born in South Carolina in 1965, and Smith, who was born in Philly in 1968, surrounded by Smith’s Oscar and Grammy and Rock’s three Grammys and four Emmys.