News of Rock’s sudden departure comes from New York Post writer Cindy Adams, who wrote in an article published on Sunday (December 8) that she’d witnessed the scene while in attendance at the party hosted by Anthony Pratt.
An Australian businessman, Pratt is an executive chairman of the recycling and packaging business Visy Industries, known as Pratt Industries USA in the US, which was started by his grandfather in Melbourne in 1948.
Anthony Pratt is an Australian businessman (Martin Ollman/Getty Images)
According to Forbes, Pratt has a net worth of $11.3 billion, and on Saturday night (December 7) he used some of his wealth to throw what Adams described as a ‘part business, part holiday’ party.
The event was hosted at a Mandarin Oriental hotel and featured a sit-down dinner with multiple courses, followed by a Keith Urban concert. Attendees included customers and longtime employees at Pratt’s business, as well as the surprise guest, Rock.
Rock’s set came after a performance from a comedian named Wali Collins, who entertained the guests during the first course of the meal.
Adams explained in the Post article that Rock was the entertainment for the second course, writing: “No big announcement. Nobody had seen him. Nobody heard he’d be there. He’d been officially hidden.”
The comedian and Grown Ups star was described as being ‘casually dressed’ as he appeared on stage to ‘big applause’ and ‘big excitement’, but guests apparently didn’t get to enjoy his jokes for long as it turned out to be a ‘very short set’.
Chris Rock ended up doing a ‘very short set’ (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Night of Too Many Stars)
Adams claimed that Rock was ‘barely minutes’ into his set when he ‘saw something the audience did not’.
She believes the comedian clocked something while looking into the crowd, who were positioned in front of the back walls and exit doors of the room.
Adams claimed: “Whatever he saw – or thought he saw – upset him. Like he went momentarily ape and shouted something like he wasn’t supposed to be taped, videoed, reported or whatever else wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Rock reportedly didn’t offer any explanation, but he ‘didn’t do one more minute’ of the set.
He allegedly moved ‘quickly, forcefully’ through the crowd to the exit and ‘stormed out’ without a ‘second’s hesitation’.
Adams recalled the audience as being ‘stunned’ by the sudden turn of events, but the night soon got back on track with a lengthy set from Urban.
