The Children's Diabetes Foundation's Carousel Ball in Denver this year raised about $1.65 million for diabetes research. It also produced something less valuable: another scrap of meat for culture warriors on the internet.
Comedian George Lopez was scheduled to host the event at the downtown Hyatt Regency. He made a couple Trump jokes, as retired society editor Joanne Davidson reported for The Denver Post.
Apparently, those jokes -- something about healthcare and immigration -- caused consternation. Davidson reports that they "didn’t sit well with some of those occupying the front-row, top-tier tables."
Corey Fenton, who posted video of the event, said that the joke-disliker was a man who had just donated $250,000 to the night's cause. The New York Post's Page Six claims on secondhand, anonymous information that it was Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media and chairman of Live Nation.
We've reached out to his office for comment. The Children's Diabetes Foundation also declined comment, with a spokesperson explaining that they're really focused on the kids.
Video that appears to be from the event shows Lopez not-quite-apologizing.
"I apologize to your white privilege, but, yes, I’m sorry. If I was a minority in Denver, I’d be upset too," Lopez apparently said.
The crowd tittered a bit, and then Lopez made his way off stage with this gem of a line: "I think there’s a videotape. So, here’s a videotape on childhood diabetes. Thank you guys very much."
Soon after, he was replaced for the rest of the show by CBS4 meteorologist Ed Greene, according to Davidson.
More than a week after the event, the story is gaining steam. Page Six claimed on Saturday that Lopez was "booed off stage." Judging from the video, it was not very vociferous booing.
Now the story's been cloned into more than dozen YouTube videos, reaching its highest form with the title "Liberal Celeb Comedians’ Anti-Trump Show Ends REALLY BAD With What Happened To Him On Stage..."
Anyway, Lenny Kravitz played later and things got unreasonably funky. He played a two-hour set, including a 25-minute jam, per attendee Corey Fenton. Let's just watch that now.
