In the latest in the incident surrounding George Lopez’s walkout during a performance at a Central California casino over the weekend, the venue is critical of the comic for what they say was an overreaction to a few loud attendees, and a lack of communication.
The veteran comedian, 63, departed early from his Friday show at the Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville, California after repeatedly telling people in the audience to be quiet during his set.
Lopez was seen in video from the show, clearly irritated with a set of attendees who continually shouted out from the audience, and warning he would exit the stage if the interruptions continued.
‘I’m serious, I seem like an a**hole, I’m the one working!’ Lopez said. ‘C’mon, please, just f***ing watch the show, that’s all you have to do, don’t even f***ing laugh if you don’t want to, I don’t give a f***. Just relax, f***.’
After the catcalling from the crowd continued, Lopez said he was ‘out of here,’ giving the audience a brief wave before exiting the stage to boos.
The Central California casino George Lopez, 63, walked out of during a performance over the weekend is defending the actions it took in the incident, and critical of the comic for what they say was an overreaction to a few hecklers. Lopez pictured in Texas in January
Reps for Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville, California said they were ready to assist Lopez with whatever requests he had, but he never communicated any troubles to them prior to bailing on his performance at their sold-out venue
Reps for the Los Angeles native subsequently told TMZ on Saturday that casino officials had ‘failed’ in their job ‘to provide a good experience for both the artist and the fans’ during Friday’s show.
The Lopez vs. Lopez star’s reps said that on Friday, ‘the audience was overserved and unruly, and the casino staff was unable to provide a safe and enjoyable experience for the artist and guests.’
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Comedian walks out on sold-out crowd early over hecklers – but fans say he totally overreacted
Lopez’s reps said that the comic’s ‘personal security team worked with the venue security staff to maintain order, ensure safety, and eject disruptive individuals’ but ‘the casino security team was not adequate to accomplish this task.’
The comic’s reps said the entertainer had a right to walk off the performance at the sold out venue, as he ‘is not obligated to perform in an unsafe environment.’
Lopez ‘feels badly that those who came to see the show were unable to do so as a result,’ his reps told the outlet.
The venue said in a response to the outlet on Monday that Lopez’s team had misrepresented multiple aspects of the situation.
‘We do not consider unruly behavior and unsafe environment to be compliments shouted at George,’ officials with the casino told the outlet Monday. ‘We should have had an opportunity for his private security, tour manager or George himself to let us know who they wanted ejected and we would have done so.’
The casino’s marketing director Joey Perez released a statement obtained by Dailymail.com apologizing to attendees and offering them their money back and tickets to a future show at the venue through the remainder of the year.
Lopez’s exit ‘came as a shock to everyone including casino management,’ officials with the casino said
Lopez ‘feels badly that those who came to see the show were unable to do so as a result,’ reps for the entertainer said
Lopez’s exit ‘came as a shock to everyone including casino management,’ according to Perez, who said that casino and surveillance footage disproved the ‘claims of unruly guests’ made by Lopez’s team.
Perez said that security workers at the venue ‘worked together’ with the comic’s security to ensure that ‘there was no filming with phones.’
Perez said that Lopez’s private security team was obligated ‘to inform casino security if they wanted to escort anyone out which never occurred’ and that ‘no guests were’ observed by casino officials behaving ‘unruly or providing an unsafe environment.’
He added: ‘Mr. Lopez or his private security had every opportunity to inform casino team if they wanted a guest escorted out and they did not. The two prior openers, also comedians, did not have any concerns or issues, so this was quite a shock to everyone attending.’
Perez said that after Lopez headed back to his dressing room, neither he ‘nor his team offered an apology to the casino team or guests nor any explanation as to why’ he exited the stage.
Lopez ‘left 15 minutes later and was transported back to Porterville airport by Eagle Mountain Casino transportation,’ Perez said.
Perez noted how the casino had been supportive and understanding after Lopez cancelled a show this past April 20 an hour before showtime, citing a health emergency.
‘The casino acted as quickly as possible rescheduling the show, and accommodating guests any way they could,’ Perez said. ‘Now, for a second time, the comedian is causing the casino to once again accommodate guests by reimbursing show tickets and going above and beyond to ensure guests know the casino values their business and only wants to provide a positive experience while visiting.’
The venue said Monday that Lopez’s team had misrepresented multiple aspects of the situation. Lopez pictured last month in LA
Perez noted how the casino had been supportive and understanding after Lopez cancelled a show on April 20 an hour before showtime, citing a health emergency
Tiffani Sahagun, the assistant general manager at the venue, said that people shouting at the stage were saying positive messages to Lopez such as ‘We love you’ and ‘Can we buy you a drink?’
Sahagun added: ‘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.
‘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.’