Legendary comedian George Lopez is in a dispute with a California casino, claiming that the venue allowed fans to heckle him during his performance, prompting him to leave the stage early.
Lopez, 63, ended his set after only 25 minutes at the Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville, California, on June 7. According to a statement from Lopez’s representatives to TMZ, the comedian cut his performance short due to the audience being “overserved and unruly.”
“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,” the statement read. “… the casino staff was unable to provide a safe and enjoyable experience for the artist and guests.”
Lopez’s team also mentioned that his “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.”
George Lopez (Credits: Getty Images)
The Eagle Mountain Casino disagreed, stating 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 that Lopez had rescheduled his initial show on April 20 due to a medical emergency, and they had been “very patient” with him about the delay.
“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,” the Facebook post stated. “We never want to let our guests down and we are as disappointed and shocked as you are.”
The casino released an official statement on Monday apologizing for Lopez’s show and offering full refunds to 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,” the casino’s statement read.
“The claims of unruly guests are not consistent with casino footage and surveillance.”
George Lopez (Credits: Paras Griffin/Getty)
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.
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.”
