George Lopez is getting dragged through the coals for what some say is him acting like a gate-keeping elitist in standup comedy — this after kinda putting down a fellow Latino comic.
The legendary funny man was on a podcast this past week for the All Things Comedy network — chatting with Steve Treviño and others … and they were talking about George’s legacy, especially as it pertains to paving the path for other Hispanic comedians.
Trevino said it was incumbent on the OGs of the biz — like George — to pass down the knowledge and assist up-and-comers in breaking through … but GL disagreed on the way to go about that. He acknowledged he hadn’t always been the most helpful, but noted he had shown the way … arguing it was on others to chart their own path, the way he has.
Trevino pushed back, invoking Ralph Barbosa — a young guy who’s blowing up right now in standup — and George almost immediately took issue with his name being mentioned.
George asked why Trevino was bringing RB up, suggesting he wasn’t famous/worthy of getting roped into the convo. He then asked the room if it was messed up he was saying that … but in the end, he stood his ground in writing Barbosa off as a relative nobody.
His takeaway point was … look out for yourself. It would seem, in his mind, that means not talking about other comics or giving them a plug of any kind — something Paul Rodriguez has alluded to when it comes to what he says is George’s track record on this sort of thing.
A resurfaced clip of Paul telling a story about George is now making the rounds in the wake of this Barbosa snub … and it paints an interesting picture. It would seem that even among George’s contemporaries … he’s got a bad rep for not extending a helping hand to Latinos.
George would likely disagree with that characterization — but he’s also pretty clear in how he thinks he can best serve people, including Hispanics. A bootstrap approach, no doubt.
As for Ralph … he’s responded to all the chatter this has spawned, and a clip he reposted is quite telling. It’s a scene from the movie ‘Blood In, Blood Out’ — where Benjamin Bratt is getting grilled by his relative for turning his back on his own people.
IYKYK …
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