George Lopez Addresses Exiting Recent Performance Early

George Lopez broke his silence after abruptly exiting his sold-out show at Eagle Mountain Casino on Friday, June 7. 

In a brief clip posted to YouTube by TMZ, the comedian appeared incredibly irritated with his audience, giving them three strikes before he was out. 

The 63-year-old snapped at the audience, asking them to “just…watch the show” as he tried to do his job. “You don’t even have to laugh if you don’t want to…just relax, man.”

While there were audible shouts from the audience in the clip, none were discernible as heckling or otherwise disrespectful words. Still, Lopez was uninterested in additional chances, as he put the mic back on the stand, waved and exited stage left, causing his fans to gasp in shock. 

In a statement shared with Entertainment Tonight, a representative for the stand-up accused the casino of having “failed” to do their “job to provide a good experience for both the artist and the fans,” suggesting that the crowd was “overserved and unruly” and that the venue’s staff “was unable to provide a safe and enjoyable experience for the artist and guests.”

The explanation continued: “George’s personal security team worked with the venue security staff to maintain order, ensure safety, and eject disruptive individuals. Unfortunately, the casino security team was not adequate to accomplish this task. 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.”

The casino countered his version of events in a brief Facebook statement early in the morning on Saturday, June 8, writing, “George Lopez let down his fans and sold out the audience by walking out and ending his show 30 minutes early.”

They claimed he had his own “private security” present that “could have easily escorted any hecklers out” and that he did not allow them the opportunity to have their own security escort them out, adding, “George decided to not continue with the show and leave.”

“We never want to let our guests down and we are as disappointed and shocked as you are,” they concluded. 

On Sunday, June 9, they issued a more formal statement and apology, offering all attendees a full reimbursement and free tickets to any future 2024 show of equal or lesser value.

They reiterated the “shock” of Friday’s events, asserting, “The claims of unruly guests are not consistent with casino footage and surveillance.”

“It was the job of Lopez private security team to inform casino security if they wanted to escort anyone out which never occurred,” they added. “Under the casinos discretion no guests were unruly or providing an unsafe environment.”

They acknowledged recordings revealed some guests “yelling out,” but the phrases they heard were things like, “We love you,” and, “Can we buy you a drink?”

“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,” Assistant General Manager Tiffani Sahagun added. “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.”

But Lopez reportedly offered no explanation to management about his “abrupt” exit and left for the airport soon after.