Jennifer Lopez’s First Big Backlash Was Over ‘Whingy’ Behavior After Halftime Show With Shakira: PR Expert
Jennifer Lopez suffered from low ticket sales for her upcoming concert and received intense backlash from her recent documentary, but her fall from grace started after she aired her opinion about her joint Halftime Show with Shakira, according to a PR expert.
Emily M Austen, who runs the PR agency EMERGE, spoke with Daily Mail's Femail about Lopez's alleged flop era. According to her, the tides turned against the "Jenny from the Block" singer for some time now, and it began after the release of her documentary "Halftime," where she talked about her 2020 Super Bowl Halftime Show with Shakira.
"The backlash against J. Lo has for sure been bubbling for a while. In the last decade, despite her love life being well broadcasted, there was still an air of mystery around her as a mega superstar," Austen explained. "The control of what was fed out to fans via social media and press coverage meant it was much easier to control her image."
She continued, "The first big moment for the backlash came as the Superbowl documentary, 'Halftime,' aired in 2022. Her behavior seemed uncompromising and whingy, having to share a stage with Shakira. Her grievance about it wasn't expressed eloquently and made her seem unlikable."
In the documentary released on Netflix in 2022, Lopez was seemingly not happy sharing the stage with Shakira. She had no issues with the "Hips Don't Lie" singer, but she felt they had to share the spotlight.
"This is the worst idea in the world to have two people do the Super Bowl. It was the worst idea in the world," Lopez said, per E! News.
"If it was gonna be a double headliner, they should've given us 20 minutes, you know what I mean?" she continued. "That's what they should've f**king done."
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In addition, her rekindled romance with her now-husband, Ben Affleck, didn't help keep the mysterious persona that contributed to her being a superstar, according to the expert. She was seen in mundane activities with the "Justice League" star -- riding cars, having curb-side arguments and getting fast food takeaways.
"This has shattered the fourth wall, one which we'd all bought into. We didn't want her to be a normal person," Austen continued.
Additionally, the PR expert didn't think Lopez had the "staying power" while pointing out her need to gain new fans to keep her popularity.
"The big challenge with a star like J. Lo is staying power. As her fans have grown older with her, she's not done a good enough job of engaging with new fans and bringing them on the journey with her," Austen claimed.
"She's also not moved her origin story on at all. Much of the backlash on TikTok particularly has been as a consequence of her new documentary, billed as a self-indulgent, out-of-touch memoir."
An unnamed insider recently claimed that Lopez was "disappointed" by the "underwhelming" response to her "This Is Me...Live" tour. Her ninth studio album with 13 tracks was also the lowest-ranked album from the singer, according to Forbes.
Lopez canceled numerous tour dates in Nashville, Raleigh, Atlanta, Tampa and New Orleans. She lost 39,000 followers after the cancellations.
