George Lopez walks off stage early at Eagle Mountain Casino due to heckling
Legendary comedian George Lopez is going back and forth with a California casino that Lopez claims allowed fans to heckle him during his performance, thus prompting him to walk off stage early.
Lopez, 63, walked off stage after only performing 25 minutes of his set at the Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville, California on June 7. The comedian claimed to have abruptly ended the performance due to the audience being "overserved and unruly," Lopez's reps said in a statement to TMZ.
"It’s the venue or casino’s job to provide a good experience for both the artist and the fans, but the casino failed in this regard," according to the statement. "... the casino staff was unable to provide a safe and enjoyable experience for the artist and guests."
Lopez's reps also said the comedian's "personal security team worked with venue security staff to maintain order, ensure safety and eject disruptive individuals."
"Unfortunately, the casino security team was not adequate to accomplish this task,” the statement continued. “George is not obligated to perform in an unsafe environment. He feels badly that those who came to see the show were unable to do so as a result.”
USA TODAY contacted Lopez's management but has not yet received a response.
'We went above and beyond to provide George with first-class service'
The Eagle Mountain Casino begged to differ saying in a Facebook post on June 8 that the comedian "let down his fans" by "ending his show 30 minutes early."
"George hired his own private security that could have easily escorted any hecklers out," the casino said. "We had a pre-show meeting to have a plan in place for hecklers. He could have provided us an opportunity to allow our security and team to escort any hecklers out since his own private security did not. George decided to not continue with the show and leave."
The casino also explained how Lopez rescheduled his initial show on April 20 due to a medical emergency, which the venue said it was "very patient" with him about.
"Tonight we went above and beyond to provide George with first-class service from his arrival to the property to the start of his show," according to the Facebook post. "We never want to let our guests down and we are as disappointed and shocked as you are."
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Casino offered full refund and free tickets to attendees of George Lopez's show
The casino released an official statement on Monday apologizing for Lopez's show and officially offering full refunds to Lopez ticket-holders and free tickets to any future 2024 show at the venue.
"Lopez’s statement providing reason for exiting the show abruptly after not saying anything to casino management or security, came as a shock to everyone including casino management," according to the casino's statement. "The claims of unruly guests are not consistent with casino footage and surveillance."
The "Lopez vs Lopez" sitcom star's security team and the casino's security staff "worked together to make sure there was no filming with phones as requested by Lopez."
"It was the job of Lopez's private security team to inform casino security if they wanted to escort anyone out which never occurred. Under the casino's discretion no guests were unruly or providing an unsafe environment," the statement said.
George Lopez did not initially say why he walked off stage
When Lopez walked into his dressing room, neither he nor his team offered an explanation or "an apology to the casino team or guests," according to the statement.
The comedian left the venue 15 minutes later and was taken back to the airport by the casino's staff, the statement continued.
“While we did see guests yelling out, we see recordings showing those saying – we love you, can we buy you a drink, etc. We also know that at a comedy show, there are also likely some outbursts that casino security would have been happy to address had any issue been made known," Tiffani Sahagun, the casino's assistant general manager said in the statement. "We only want for our guests to have a safe and enjoyable experience, and we want our entertainers to feel safe and enjoy coming to Porterville as well.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George Lopez walks off stage at Eagle Mountain Casino after heckling
