George Lopez blames comedy show early exit on ‘unruly’ crowd, but venue disputes that

George Lopez left a headlining comedy set 30 minutes early on Friday, but the reasons why are in dispute.

“Tonight George Lopez let down his fans and sold out audience by walking out and ending his show 30 minutes early,” the Facebook page for California’s Eagle Mountain Casino posted on Friday. They also offered refunds to anyone in attendance.

Lopez’s team is claiming that the exit was due to an “unruly” crowd that made the comedian feel “unsafe.”

“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,” a spokesperson for Lopez said in a statement to the New York Post. “The audience was overserved and unruly, and the casino staff was unable to provide a safe and enjoyable experience for the artist and guests.”

Lopez’s representative 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.”

Representatives for Lopez did not immediately respond to EW’s request for further comment.

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Something’s not adding up, though, because Eagle Mountain Casino disputes this account of events. In a statement posted to its website after the comedian’s response, casino representatives said that “claims of unruly guests are not consistent with casino footage and surveillance.” Instead, they say evidence suggests any outbursts were affectionate rather than derogatory. And in any case, the venue claims that Lopez and his team did not alert them of any disruptions before the sudden departure.

“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,” the casino’s assistant manager Tiffani Sahagun said in a statement.

Lopez was originally scheduled to perform at the casino on April 20, but canceled at the last minute, according to the casino. Since he cited a medical emergency and provided a makeup date of June 7, “the casino supported the entertainer and wished him well,” according to their statement. But they don’t think he returned the good faith.

“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 venue’s statement reads. “The two prior openers, also comedians, did not have any concerns or issues, so this was quite a shock to everyone attending.”