Comedian George Lopez is pushing back against the Eagle Mountain Casino in Porterville, California, after the venue blamed him for walking out of his stand-up performance Friday night (June 7).
The same night Lopez stopped his show half an hour early, apparently due to hecklers in the audience, the casino posted a message on social media voicing their disappointment with Lopez’s decision.
“George Lopez let down his fans and sold-out audience by walking out and ending his show 30 minutes early,” the message read. “George hired his own private security that could have easily escorted any hecklers out.”
The casino added that there was a “plan in place” in case there were hecklers at the show, but that their security team wasn’t given the opportunity to implement the plan.
Lopez’s team responded to the message according to TMZ by saying that the casino “failed” to “provide a good experience for both the artist and the fans” and added that the “audience was overserved and unruly.” They put the blame on the casino security team for being unable to “maintain order” and thus putting Lopez and the rest of the audience in an “unsafe environment.”
On Sunday (June 9), the casino once again fired back and said Lopez’s “claims of unruly guests are not consistent with the casino footage and surveillance.”
They added that Lopez and his team left the casino without explaining what happened. “This was quite a shock to everyone attending,” the statement continued.
Eagle Mountain Casino said it would reimburse guests for the stand-up show.