George Lopez recently defected from powerful Hollywood agency Creative Artists Agency to rival UTA — and CAA shockingly retaliated by withdrawing its donation to the star’s charity golf tournament that benefits sick kids.
Lopez, who’d been with CAA for a decade, left just over a week ago after his agents jumped to UTA as part of the recent bombshell wave of defections. Smarting CAA brass responded by launching a lawsuit against the competing firm.
Comedian and chat-show host Lopez, 53, is hosting his annual Celebrity Golf Classic at Toluca Lake, Calif., on May 4, and prior to his exit, CAA had agreed to sponsor a foursome of its agents in the tournament for the sum of $7,500.
But last week, event organizers at Lopez’s foundation got an e-mail from CAA demanding its $7,500 donation be returned because its agents would no longer take part in the tournament.
A source exclusively told us: “George has given CAA millions in commissions over the years, and they respond to him leaving by taking back a $7,500 donation that would help sick children? This shows how bitter they have become over the so-called ‘agency war.’”
Proceeds from the tournament go to the Painted Turtle, which gives children with serious medical conditions the chance to go to camp.
After last year’s golf tournament — with participants including Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, Joe Pesci and Sugar Ray Leonard — raised $510,000, Lopez said in a statement, “The George Lopez Foundation will be able to send kids with kidney disease to the Painted Turtle Camp, where they can go and have fun and not worry about being sick. It’s incredible.”
While reps for Lopez and CAA declined to comment Wednesday, another Hollywood source insisted: “George Lopez is no longer a CAA client, so naturally CAA agents would not play as a foursome in his tournament. The agency has instead decided to give an amount that is in fact larger directly to the Painted Turtle.” The source didn’t specify when it made that donation.