AITAH for cancelling going to a singles event with my friend?

So I 26M agreed to go to a singles event with my friend on Friday. He told me it would be more fun than online dating, but I looked at the price and it was $40 for a ticket. I also figured since I’m not a top 10% man I would just get rejected by every girl there, and I’ve seen videos of girls making fun of guys that go there when I researched it. I don’t want to pay to participate in a humiliation ritual, which is pretty much what dating as a man is. I would rather stay home and keep playing oblivion or working on my writing. I told him as such and he sighed and said I was a jerk bc I keep complaining about dating apps. Thing is these are just in person dating apps. I’d rather stay home and read Tolstoy. Was I wrong here?