Jennifer Lopez has revealed the reason she almost quit show business.
In her new Netflix documentary Halftime, the 52-year-old said that the criticism she faced for her curvy figure was overwhelming.
The reason Jennifer Lopez almost left show business
“There were many times where I was just like, I think I’m just going to quit. I had to really figure out who I was. And believe in that and not believe in anything else,” Jennifer said.
She continued: “When I started working, the beauty ideal was very thin, blonde, tall, not a lot of curves.”
“I grew up around women with curves, so it was nothing I was ever ashamed of. It was hard when you think people think you’re a joke — like a punchline.”
“But it wound up affecting things in a way that I never intended.”
Jennifer’s fiancé Ben Affleck also spoke in the documentary about the pressure she faced.
He said: “I said to her once, ‘Doesn’t this bother you?’ And she said, ‘I’m Latina, I’m a woman, I expected this.'”
Ben and Jennifer rekindled their relationship in 2021, nearly twenty years after they called off their wedding in 2003.
Jennifer is the mother of twins, 14, Emme and Maximilian. She shares her son and daughter with her ex-husband, singer Marc Anthony.
Ben also shares daughters Violet, 16, Seraphina, 13, and son Samuel, 10, with his ex-wife actress Jennifer Garner.
Jennifer Lopez said fame ‘complicated’ family life
Earlier this year, Jennifer said that fame made family “complicated.”
She told Rolling Stone: “When one person becomes famous in a family, it causes a lot of discord. It can be complicated for both sides. It got complicated for me, like, ‘Is this still, you know, my family who loves me and accepts me and understands me and feels like I’m the same person, or do they see me as different as well?’”
She added: “For them, it was like, ‘OK, well, now she’s this, and what does that mean? How much do I expect? How much do I ask for, and how much do I not?’ There’s confusion. There’s resentment and very mixed, complicated, adult feelings. You know, ‘What is all this?’”
Jennifer is the daughter of Guadalupe Rodríguez and David Lopez. She also has two sisters named Lynda and Leslie.
Speaking about how she tries to stay respectful to her kids when speaking about her private life, the If You Had My Love singer told TODAY with Hoda & Jenna: “It’s a lot of things. You have to be conscious, too, like what you talk about from your private life in public because they’ll read it, their friends will read it, these things will happen, all these judgments made.”
She added: “Social media is so different now. It’s not just tabloid magazines, like if you happen to pick it up. Everybody can see everything you say all the time, so it’s just about being respectful to them, too, and loving them and protecting them, and protecting our family and our love, that’s all.”