An unflappable icon of fame, gracing the tabloids regularly thanks to her jet-setting lifestyle,
career endeavors, and multiple marriages, Jennifer Lopez lives her life in the public
eye.
But that's not her whole life or whole self.
Here are some things you may not have known about the superstar known as JLo.
While it's common knowledge that Jim Carrey got his first big taste of fame as a cast
member on Fox's edgy early '90s sketch comedy show In Living Color, it's less commonly known
that Jennifer Lopez got her big break there, too.
No, she didn't play any wacky characters or imitate celebrities in sketches, she was among
the Fly Girls, the show's in-house troupe of hip-hop dancers who busted out moves during
transitional moments and over the credits.
In 2004, Inside Edition uncovered a November 1990 tape of dancers auditioning to be Fly
Girls for choreographer Rosie Perez.
While Lopez made it to the final round of four dancers, she lost the one open spot to
a fellow dancer.
Undeterred, she auditioned again in 1991.
That time, she made the cut, staying with In Living Color through 1993.
She kept busy with other dance gigs, too, appearing in music videos for artists like
Janet Jackson.
In 2015, Lopez opened the American Music Awards by leading a couple dozen dancers as they
grooved their way through some of the year's biggest hits.
That was a full circle moment for JLo, who at the 1991 AMA ceremony, danced in support
of New Kids on the Block.
Before she became a pop diva, but after she made a name for herself as a dancer, Lopez
was an actress.
In the late '90s, she made a big splash with roles in Money Train, Out of Sight, and Selena,
for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination.
She's starred in some major movies since, but she could've had a very different resume.
She turned down a lot of films that went on to be hits, like the 2002 erotic thriller
Unfaithful, which landed Diane Lane an Oscar nomination.
Lopez told Vanity Fair,
"Diane Lane was so perfect for it, and it was obviously meant to be her, but when I
think about that.
I want to literally, like, shoot my toe off."
According to Contact Music, Lopez's agents decided the role of Dorothy in Jerry Maguire
was "not for [her]," leaving it open for director Cameron Crowe to show Renee Zelwegger the
money instead.
Lopez also told Movieline in 1998 that Columbia Pictures gave her a choice of two movies:
Anaconda, which Variety called "a silly and plodding Jaws ripoff," or the rom-com Fools
Rush In.
She picked Anaconda, and explained,
"[I chose] the fun B-movie because the Fools script wasn't strong enough."
It's safe to say that 2003 was not one of Lopez's best years.
Her extremely high-profile, tabloid-and-gossip-column-filling relationship with fellow big-time movie star
Ben Affleck fizzled out after two years and a wedding proposal.
They met on the set of Gigli, which, upon its release in 2003, became one of the most
gleefully savaged movies of all time, with its title becoming a synonym for "really bad
movie."
The film earned a 6 percent on Rotten Tomatoes thanks to critics who found it, quote, "jaw-droppingly
bad [and] unwatchable."
The combination of falling in and then out of love in the public eye against the backdrop
of a huge flop nearly broke Lopez, who told Vanity Fair in 2017,
"I was eviscerated.
I lost my sense of self, questioned if I belonged in this business, thought maybe I did suck
at everything.
And my relationship self-destructed in front of the entire world.
It was a two-year thing for me until I picked myself up again."
"There's worse movies than Gigli out there, yeah."
"Yeah, absolutely."
According to Popsugar, Lopez's first husband, for nine months from 1997 to 1998, was a waiter
named Ojani Noa.
After their split, she got more wealthy and more famous — and he seemed more determined
to capitalize on his connection to the superstar.
In 2006, Noa planned to publish a book called The Unknown Truth: A Passionate Portrait of
a Serial Thriller, a tell-all exposé about life with JLo.
According to People, each chapter was named after a different Lopez movie.
The Associated Press reported that Lopez and her lawyers sued to prevent the book's release,
as publishing it would violate an agreement Noa allegedly made with Lopez in 2005.
That agreement prevented him from revealing any information about his marriage to Lopez
that would result in financial gain.
She had to take Noa to court again in 2009, when he sued him for $10 million after he
tried to market the couple's, well, honeymoon video.
Hollywood stars are usually pretty guarded and diplomatic, they don't want to say anything
to a reporter that would rock the boat or cast themselves in a bad light.
That's what makes Lopez's 1998 interview with Movieline somewhat refreshing, but no less
shocking.
When asked her honest opinion of a number of A-list actresses and rising stars of the
era, she didn't hold back in the least.
In the tea-spilling rant, Lopez, who famously starred in Selena, said that the notion that
the film was first offered to Salma Hayek was "an outright lie," adding,
"If that's what she does to get herself publicity, then that's her thing."
As for Cameron Diaz, Lopez called her:
"A lucky model who's been given a lot of opportunities I just wish she would have done more with."
Discussing Winona Ryder, she said,
"She gets nominated for Oscars, but I've never heard anyone in the public or among my friends
say, 'Oh, I love her.'"
She didn't think too much of Madonna's non-musical pursuits, saying,
"Do I think she's a great actress?
No."
But Gwyneth Paltrow may have gotten the worst of it.
Lopez said,
"I swear to God, I don't remember anything she was in."
There's no feud like a diva feud, and Lopez has spawned more than a few celebrity catfights,
but this one has to be the biggest, because it involves none other than MiMi herself.
At some point in the early 2000s, Mariah Carey gave an interview with a German-language news
outlet and gave her opinions on her contemporaries, saying,
"I love Beyoncé, Beyoncé is fabulous."
When asked about Lopez, Carey replied, with a grin,
"I don't know her."
She wasn't saying she didn't know Lopez personally, she basically implied that she had never even
heard of this upstart vocalist.
Those four words became a meme, forcing Lopez to respond on multiple occasions.
"I know from back in the day I've read things that she's said about me that were not the
greatest, but we have never met."
In a 2016 spot on The Wendy Williams Show, Lopez changed course, stating that she and
Carey had "met many times."
Carey remained unwavering when she hit Watch What Happens Live later that year.
"I don't know her.
Like, what am I supposed to say?"
Gossip columnist Roger Friedman points to an early 2000s incident between Lopez and
Carey, explaining that their feud may have something to do with Lopez's alleged theft
of elements of the songs "If We" and "Loverboy," two songs Carey recorded for the soundtrack
of her movie Glitter, and used them on the album version and remix of her song "I'm Real."
If Lopez is, as she claims in her somewhat defensive 2002 single, still Jenny from the
block, then she must have been rude to service industry workers as a teenager.
A person close to Lopez told Star,
"She doesn't speak to salespeople, restaurant or hotel staff, or flight attendants.
She only talks through her assistants."
During an alleged United Airlines excursion, a flight attendant supposedly asked Lopez,
in first class, obviously, if he could fetch her a beverage.
The flight attendant told Star,
"But Jennifer refused to acknowledge me.
She turned her head away and told her personal assistant, 'Please tell him I'd like a Diet
Coke and lime.'"
In 2012, a maid working at a hotel in Germany claimed that she asked Lopez for her autograph
when the star was staying there.
According to Us Weekly, the maid claimed,
"I am an incredibly big fan so I took all my courage and rang the bell to get an autograph.
[Two assistants rejected the request.]
A day later the cleaning company that employed me at the hotel called and said that Ms. Lopez
had complained.
I was fired right there on the phone."
Lopez dismissed the entire notion out of hand with a tweet, saying,
"C'mon thought you knew me better than this.
Would never get anyone fired over an autograph."
"You were just getting all of this kind of this negative, kind of this crappy information
all the time.
Now at least you get to know us a little bit more on social media, we get to speak for
ourselves."
A signature fragrance is an integral part of a portfolio and branding strategy for any
driven celebrity, Lady Gaga has one, Rihanna has a few, and Lopez has released an unbelievable
25 different perfumes and scents since 2002.
Women's Wear Daily estimates that Promise, which hit stores in September 2019, could
boost the profits of Lopez's empire of smells by 30 percent.
That's a lot, considering that the line is already worth around $2 billion.
Speaking of huge sums of money, it's a quip from billionaire Warren Buffett that inspired
the name of fragrance number 25.
According to Allure, Lopez revealed at a Promise-related event,
"He told me something that really resonated with me.
He said, 'A brand is a promise.'
I just thought it was a perfect time in my life to name a fragrance Promise, because
every time that we create something new, it's a promise to give you something of quality,
something that will make your life better, something that will make you feel sexy, something
that will make you feel beautiful."
Like a lot of major actors and actresses in Hollywood, Lopez has her own production company,
which she uses to develop film and TV projects for herself and other performers.
In 2014, Lopez pitched Shades of Blue, a gritty drama about a single mother and NYPD detective
who gets involved with a group of dirty cops, to NBC.
She was wearing her producer hat only, and had no intention of starring in the series,
but those plans quickly changed.
She explained to Stuff,
"They were like, 'Why are you not playing this role?'
And I thought to myself, 'I don't know, maybe, maybe I should.'"
And so she did, taking on the lead role, and NBC ordered up a first season.
As Lopez was still quite busy with her movie and music careers, Shades of Blue's production
schedule was accommodating, with its first two seasons consisting of a relatively low
13 episodes each.
Still, when the show was renewed for a third season, Lopez was already eyeballing the end.
She told IndieWire,
"We always knew this would have a finite run.
When we got to the third season, I was like, 'I think we're done with this.'
And the way the season ends, I think this is it...It seemed perfect to move on to the
next chapter for me."
Lopez dances almost nonstop for two hours during the typical concert, and all-day long
on her music video shoots, and it was her job for a while as a Fly Girl on In Living
Color in the early 1990s.
So it should come as little surprise that Lopez has the physical stamina required to
endure all that, but she applies those physical gifts to other, more competitive athletic
pursuits, too.
In her 2015 memoir True Love, Lopez discussed, and justifiably kind of bragged about, finishing
a triathlon seven years earlier.
The triathlon is a grueling contest that combines a long swim, a long bike ride, and a long
run.
She wrote,
"Now, understand, I had never done a triathlon before.
I had run a 10K when I was 12, but never anything close to a triathlon."
Oh, and her time at the Nautica Malibu Triathlon, which comprises a half-mile swim, 18-mile
bike portion, and four-mile run was 2 hours, 23 minutes, and 28 seconds, which is just
slightly longer than the amount of time it takes to watch Gigli!
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