Jennifer Lopez and Shakira shared the stage for the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show, but behind the scenes, things weren’t all sunshine and roses between the two women.
As JLo’s Halftime documentary streams online, fans get an inside look into the making of the halftime show and how the stunning singer and dancer felt about the whole event.
JLo expressed a lot of frustration and disappointment with the way the halftime show was organized and was very particular that the show had to be perfect for the little amount of time they had on stage.
Jennifer Lopez unhappy about splitting halftime show with Shakira
Rather than opting for a longer halftime show or just having one musical artist, the NFL had the 2020 halftime show going to two women for the same 12 minutes. For JLo, this was a massive disappointment.
Shakira and JLo managed to keep a professional relationship regarding the event, though tensions were said to be high.
At one point, Shakira is discussing the show with JLo and advises, “I know that the Super Bowl people want us to be weaved throughout the show. I haven’t had a confirmation about how many minutes I’m going to have.”
JLo replies that they have 12 minutes, but she has “kind of a good confirmation” that there’s some wiggle room, adding up to about 13 or 14 minutes total. She then states, “I think, Shakira, what we should have is you should have half the time and I should [have half],” immediately shooting down any chance of the women performing together.
JLo lets her feelings be known after, adding, “If it was going to be a double-headliner, they should have given us 20 minutes. That’s what they should’ve f**king done.”
Her upset regarding splitting the time on stage with Shakira wasn’t the only thing that JLo wasn’t thrilled about when performing the Super Bowl halftime show, as the NFL wasn’t thrilled with her idea for her performance.
NFL wanted JLO to remove kids in cages from performance- JLo refused
At the time of the Super Bowl show in 2020, tensions were high across the United States as people were outraged about children in cages seen in ICE detention centers. As part of her performance, JLo featured children in cages to make a statement, but the NFL wasn’t happy with it.
The night before, they tried to pull the cages from her performance.
JLo’s longtime manager Benny Medina revealed, “The NFL had a real concern about making a political statement about immigration. They looked at the plans, and the message was absolute. They did not want those cages in the show. That had come down from the highest authority.”
However, JLo wasn’t having it.
It was the night before the performance, and she wasn’t changing her show or the message she was sending during her performance. In a rare occurrence, the NFL lost that battle, and the cages remained in the performance.
Halftime is now streaming on Netflix.