Rock, dressed all in white, addressed the incident publicly for the first time. He was greeted by the audience at Boston’s Wilbur Theater with two consecutive standing ovations that lasted several minutes.
“Let me be all foggy and shitty,” Rock said tearfully, gesturing to the crowd’s warm reaction.
“How was your weekend?” he joked, to which the audience responded with laughter.
“I don’t have much to say about that. So if you came here,” he said, pausing and then continuing, “I had a whole show written before this weekend. I’m still processing what happened, so I’ll talk about it at some point. It is getting serious. It’s going to be fun, but now I’m going to tell a few jokes.
The comedian, who is currently on his Ego Death Tour, then moved on with his show.
The tour has seen a surge in ticket sales since the Oscars, with Wednesday’s two shows selling out in Boston.
Rock’s appearance comes as the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced that it has opened a “disciplinary proceeding” against Smith over his actions at the Oscars on Sunday.
The actor took to the stage at the awards show and smacked Rock, who was presenting at the time, after making a joke about Smith’s wife’s shaved head.
Smith apologized in a statement on Instagram Monday, calling his behavior “unacceptable and inexcusable.”
“I want to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I’m embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness,” Smith wrote.
In its Wednesday statement, the academy said Smith was asked to leave the ceremony after the altercation “and refused.” The academy said it recognizes “that we could have handled the situation differently”.