Comedian George Lopez abruptly ended his sold out Friday show after being heckled by an audience member.
Roughly 30 minutes before his set was scheduled to end at Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville, California, Lopez was heckled and gave his audience three chances to behave, warning them he would cut his show early.
"I seem like an a--hole? I'm the one working," Lopez told the crowd in a video shared by TMZ. "Please just f---ing watch the show. That's all you need to do."
Another member from the audience can be heard shouting something at Lopez, prompting the comedian to return his microphone to the stand and walk off stage.
"Hell no. George Lopez walked off the stage," says the woman recording the video before booing Lopez. NEW: George Lopez walks out 30 minutes earlier from his rescheduled California show because of hecklers, but fans claim he overreacted ‘BOO’
George Lopez, 63, was performing at Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville
The venue said on a social media post that Lopez had private… pic.twitter.com/QS9KtefxgQ
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Eagle Mountain Casino panned Lopez in a Facebook post shortly after his show and announced attendees would be fully reimbursed and offered a free ticket to an upcoming event at the venue at equal or lesser value. "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 the Facebook post read, contesting Lopez's claims of unruly audience members with the casino's surveillance footage. "Casino security and Lopez security team worked together to make sure there was no filming with phones as requested by Lopez.” "Once Lopez walked to his dressing room, he nor his team offered an apology to the casino team or guests nor any explanation as to why Mr. Lopez did not want to continue and left 15 minutes later and was transported back to Porterville airport by Eagle Mountain Casino transportation," the statement continued. "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." "While we did see guests yelling out, we see recordings showing those saying - we love you, can we buy you a drink, ete. 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,” explained Assistant General Manager Tiffani Sahagun. Eagle Mountain Casino noted Lopez had previously cancelled his initial April 20 show at the venue an hour before his performance citing a health emergency. "The casino supported the entertainer and wished him well. The casino acted as quickly as possible rescheduling the show, and accommodating guests any way they could," they wrote. "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 casino claimed Lopez's private security was responsible for informing casino security of audience members the comedian wanted removed from the show.
The comedian's team claimed the venue "overserved" members of the audience and could not provide a "safe environment," per TMZ.
