Easily among the most successful comedians of his generation, George Lopez has spent years on end making millions of people laugh uproariously. On top of bringing comedy into the lives of his legions of fans, Lopez also has a well-documented history of speaking out about serious issues in a thoughtful manner.
Even though George Lopez comes off like a really good dude, that doesn’t mean that he has been an angel all of his life. For example, it is well documented that Lopez physically attacked a fellow comedian in the past. While that is fascinating enough, the reason for Lopez’s violent actions is even more interesting.
Comedian Called Out
Over the last several years, a lot of celebrities have fought back against the so-called cancel culture. For example, a lot of people feel that comedians need to be able to talk about taboo subjects to hone their craft. However, even in the very permissive standup comedy world, there is one thing that is considered completely unacceptable, stealing jokes.
During the early-2000s, Carlos Mencia was one of the most successful comedians in the world. Then his career took a massive hit when Joe Rogan publically confronted Mencia on stage at the Comedy Store in February 2007.
After calling Carlos Mencia out in 2007, Joe Rogan posted a video of their confrontation on YouTube. Worse yet, Rogan also edited in footage that seemingly proved that Mencia had stolen several jokes throughout the video. For example, Rogan’s video featured footage of comedians like Bob Levy, Bobby Lee, and Ari Shaffir performing jokes followed up by clips of Mencia telling practically identical bits. On top of that, Mencia has also been accused of stealing Bill Cosby's jokes in the past. Of course, in all fairness to Mencia, a lot of different celebrities have been accused of plagiarism over the years.
Carlos Admits Attack
When Carlos Mencia was confronted by Joe Rogan in 2007, he didn’t back down in the slightest. Instead, Mencia remained onstage and refuted all of the accusations that were levied against him. However, there was one comment that Rogan made that Mencia instantly agreed to.
In the middle of calling Carlos Mencia out, Joe Rogan asks him “George Lopez didn’t grab you by your f**king neck and slam you up against the Laugh Factory wall for ripping off his s**t in your HBO special?”. Without missing a beat, Mencia responds, “yes he did”. However, Mencia goes on to claim that Lopez’s problems with him have nothing to do with Carlos stealing jokes. Instead, Mencia states that “George Lopez actually said on Howard Stern that he doesn’t want any other Hispanic comedians to make it other than him”. After Rogan retorts that Lopez was clearly joking when he said that, Mencia claims that George is “jealous” of him.
Geroge’s Take On Things
Over the years, George Lopez has confirmed that he laid hands on Carlos Mencia on multiple occasions. Unlike Mencia, however, Lopez doesn’t blame his actions on any jealousy. For example, during an interview with the YouTube channel BigBoyTV, Lopez said this about why he attacked Mencia one night in the Laugh Factory. “He did an HBO thing and it had quite a bit of material.”
On another occasion, George Lopez talked about what went on between him and Carlos Mencia during a 2006 Howard Stern interview. After Stern asks if Lopez punched Mencia out, the beloved comedian quickly confirms “yeah, I did”. From there, Lopez went on to elaborate on the situation more. “You know, the guy was pretty liberal with some of the material, you know. He had an HBO one night stand that I think had like, we counted thirteen minutes of my material on it and we contacted HBO and they pulled it for a while”.
Of course, it should go without saying that attacking someone isn’t the right way to handle things when you have an issue with them. In fact, when George Lopez has talked about attacking Carlos Mencia in recent years, he has made it clear that lawyers would be involved if something like that happened again. That makes perfect sense since attacking someone can easily result in criminal and legal consequences.
Putting aside the moral and potential legal consequences of George Lopez attacking Carlos Mencia, the reason for his anger is pretty understandable. After all, comedians’ careers rise and fall based on two things, the quality of their jokes and how good they are at delivering them. As a result, if Mencia stole Lopez’s jokes, he was putting George’s career in jeopardy. After all, uninformed fans may have presumed that Lopez was the one who stole jokes from Mencia instead of the other way around. While it has to be said that Mencia has consistently denied taking Lopez’s jokes, it is very clear that George believes that took place.