Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Jennifer Lopez, Music, Celebrity, Netflix
Daisy Phillipson
Jennifer Lopez has opened up about the media scrutiny she's faced over her extensive career in the spotlight, saying the attention on her bum gave her 'very low self esteem'.
The 52-year-old singer initially broke into the industry as a dancer in the 80s before landing a number of acting gigs and carving out a name for herself in pop music.
She's now at the centre of a new Netflix documentary titled Halftime, which delves into the global superstar's success and the pressure of life in the spotlight.
One of the subjects she discusses is society's downright obsession with her butt, which started long before the Kardashian era.
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A series of clips are shown demonstrating the attention she received, including the moment she wore the famous green dress to the 2000 Grammys.
In another, the singer is asked in an interview with Billy Bush: “How do you feel about your butt?”
She responds, “Are you kidding me? You did not just ask me that," to which he says, "I did."
J.Lo opened up about the phenomenon, saying that it took its toll on her self esteem over the years.
“It was hard when you think people think you’re a joke, like you’re a punchline," she said. "But I wound up affecting things in a way that I never intended to affect them."
The documentary went on to point out that Google Image search was created as a result of the influx of people searching for her green dress after the Grammys.
Alongside her butt, Lopez described how the media was more focused on her marriages and her long-rumoured diva behaviour than her music and acting.
“No matter what I achieved, their appetite to cover my personal life overshadowed everything that was happening in my career,” she explained.
“I just had very low self-esteem. I really believed a lot of what they said, which was that I wasn’t any good – I wasn’t a good singer, I wasn’t a good actress, I wasn’t a good dancer, I wasn’t good at anything.
"I just didn’t even belong here why wouldn’t I just go away.”
Elsewhere in the documentary, we see the days leading up to her 2020 Super Bowl LIV halftime show.
Lopez claimed the NFL wanted to cut the 'kids in cages' part of the performance, a protest aimed at then-President Donald Trump about the detainment of children in his expanding immigration detention centres.
The singer refused to give into the requests to have it cut, saying: "For me this isn’t about politics, this is about human rights.
"I’m facing the biggest crossroads of my life – being able to perform on the biggest stage of my life. But to take out the cages and sacrifice everything I believe in would be like never being here at all."
Halftime is available to stream on Netflix now.
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