I actually forgot that Jennifer Lopez is still a judge on American Idol. Do people still watch that show? I’m being facetious – I know Idol still gets millions of viewers, although their viewership is not what it once was. Still, J.Lo is getting paid. A LOT. And I imagine Idol pays for her entourage of hair, makeup and style people, which is why we’re gifted with such interesting looks when she’s on the job. These pics are from Idol’s “Hollywood Week” auditions from the past three days. The green ensemble is ICB. The multi-colored mini-dress is Cavalli.
Not only does Jennifer have this Idol gig, plus a music career, plus her perfume line, plus her new Vegas gig, plus all of her Kohl’s line, but she also “wrote” a book called True Love (of course). It’s a memoir with lots of photos, apparently. And Jennifer talks about her relationships… and she says she’s “felt abused” before.
Jennifer Lopez makes a surprising admission in her upcoming memoir, True Love: She’s felt abused in some of her past relationships. While she doesn’t specify the abuser, Lopez writes, “I’ve never gotten a black eye or a busted lip, but I’ve felt abused in one way or another: mentally, emotionally, verbally.” (She does not claim any physical abuse.)
Her new book describes the many ups and downs of her love life, as well as the reasons behind her 2011 split from Marc Anthony, the father of their 6-year-old twins, Max and Emme. But this wasn’t the book she planned to write.
“It started out as fan book, a diary of the years I went on tour,” Lopez tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “But it turned into something else. As I started looking at things, it helped me face a lot. I would never go into specifics about my relationships, and I don’t. But the idea was that I learned something.”
Lopez, who has been married three times, says she’s learned a lot about love, especially when it comes to the importance of standing up for oneself.
“Every day that you don’t walk out that door, every day you accept things in your partner and in yourself, is a day that you’re saying it’s okay,” she writes.
“I had to learn to take care of myself and know my worth,” the American Idol judge also tells PEOPLE. “When things are not working out, and you’re not being treated in a way that you want to be treated, you have to look at that because it’s nobody’s fault but yours. You have to take control and you have to set up your own boundaries. You have the power to change it.”
Anthony, she says, is supportive of her and her new book. “He read it and said, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize you were going through this whole journey,’ ” says Lopez. “We try to be supportive of each other. We feel that’s the best thing for our kids.”
For Lopez, who broke up with choreographer Casper Smart in June, it’s now about putting all these lessons into practice.
“I’m learning to set up boundaries, you know what I’m saying?” says the singer, who adds that she is definitely single. “I call myself a W.I.P. – a work in progress. I’m still learning and growing every single day.”
I’m surprised to read that she showed the book to Marc Anthony, because that is the person whom I suspect of emotional abuse. I mean, she could mean Ben Affleck too – I doubt the Batfleck has ever lifted a hand to a woman, but he seems like an emotional abuser, and Marc Anthony was a known control freak. Who else is there? Chris Judd… doubtful. Puffy? I actually think Puffy worshipped Jennifer and still puts her on a pedestal.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
Didn’t her first husband try and sell his story or some tape or something like that? I’m betting he is the abuser.
Scumbag. Get a job and stop trying to benefit from her.
I am surprised that she is writing a memoir. But this book explains why she had dinner with Puffy.
Puffy did not worship her. He told her she couldn’t sing and cheated on her repeatedly. JLo discussed it on Behind the Music.
She liked Marc Anthony because he was nice about her singing and made her feel secure. But he also cheated on her left right and center. Then he told everyone she was cheating on him and set her crazy.
Ben Affleck blamed her publicly for his image and the fact that he had done a lot of bad movies.
Surprised she is writing a book. She must feel like her career is on the rocks.Her music career is failing but she is making a movie with Viola Davis…
Don’t for get Ben cheated on her as well and I don’t remember Matk cheating on her.
A lot of her ex-bfs are douches in some way. I think Cris Judd was probably the best one? I haven’t read anything bad about him but if anybody has some dirt 🙂
Tbh, she obviously didn’t deserve the abuse but I really don’t care for her being cheated on by most of her men because she was exactly the same. I don’t care about her shitty love life. Nearly all of her relationships started by cheating. Look at how close the time frames are between the men. Look at how she was already in contact with them before the ‘official dating’ press mill started. She’s in love with love, she will scream it from the rooftops and will dump one guy for the other at willy nilly. It’s incredibly childish and she deserves what she gets in the love department: a shitty embarrassing Z-list dancer.
Besides, she has a great business sense, an icon status, a hot bod, she has the fountain of youth and she’s a bad bitch in general. What’s a few sacrifices in the love and music area?
Candy Love
Did Ben cheat? I remember their big fight that lead to the end was about him going to an adult club with friends and the fact that he even walked into that place counted as cheating.
I think for some men they don’t want to see their woman being more successful than them or even seeing them have some success.
I believe she has self estime issues, and she probably had to deal with that, and with men with a gigantic ego, I hope she is in a better place now, and I think the fact she hasn’t married Casper Smart proves something.
Call me crazy but I love the oufit she’s wearing in the last photo, the one with the golden top.
I love it too!
I think Marc Anthony is a control freak and while I don’t condone how he treated his wife previous to J.Lo, I tend to think he’s got that Latin machismo thing going on but I don’t think that it translates into abuse in any way. I do on the other think that P. Douche being that he is the one celeb who I think still loves her and doesn’t understand why she left is the one who she likely felt abused by or that douche she married who constantly sells his insane stories to the media.
I believe this and the fact we haven’t seen her with a new man since busting things off with Casper says a lot about her growth as a person.
If Jennifer “had to learn to take care of myself and know my worth,” then why can’t she be single for more than two minutes?
Hasn’t she been single since she broke things off with Casper? Which good on her if true.
But isn’t he sniffing around her and “still hanging” with her and whatnot AKA the quiet rollout?
It’s not impossible for 2 exes to be friends? Besides I thought the story was that the kids were super tight with Casper and he’s more or less being a nanny now.
I think they’re still seeing each other on the down low. Smart was being ridiculed as he and Jlo don’t match and then he openly got caught cheating. It’s embarrassing as fuck and we all know celebs like to be in control of the narrative.
A woman like Jlo isn’t supposed to be forced into embarrassment by a man like him. When Affleck cheated she was still seeing him for a few months although she didn’t call the paps that often anymore. She can’t let go when she’s not the one cheating or when she hasn’t found a replacement. She has a big pattern in dating.
With Artemis on this.
Casper has been seen nearly everywhere JLo has been seen. Just not photographed together.
Until she finds someone else they will remain together. That’s just how she is it appears.
Wow. I just have never seen Jennifer Lopez as a victim of anything.
I too instantly thought of Marc, I always imagined him very controlling, but it sounds like they have a pretty decent relationship now, which is good for their kids at least.
Nothing JLo puts out there is of any interest to me, but she has had a crazy amount of business success.
With the ego this woman has, I am sure she has never been treated as she feels she should have been. She is the most pampered, spoiled celebrity I have ever read about. This isn’t her first toe into the “I’ve been abused” pool.
She has just “learned to take care of herself?” I would love to hear who has ever made her do anything she didn’t want to do.
Puffy was right-she can’t sing. But she can perform. And by all accounts she does show up and work hard. I believe she knows her strengths. Kudos to her for her that.
Agree with you 100%, she has almost no talent in my book….she is mean and pushy to others, she thinks the world revolves around her!! The men aren’t with her because she probably has to be overly bossy or she just uses them to fill in when she’s not with someone. The only reason I don’t watch Idol these days is because SHE is on it, which makes me sick. She is mostly outspoken on the show, doesn’t want any other women outshining her either, so she has to be the diva….she can write all the books she wants, but when women act like JLo, I can’t really feel sorry for them…..
That’s funny – I always thought the opposite, that Puffy was a total ahole to her and Marc Anthony dropped everything when she finally agreed to marry him. Didn’t he date her in the beginning of her career and then waited for her the entire time she was busy getting to the top of the biz?
Not so crazy about the green pants but I’d break laws to own those gorgeous shoes!
I have always loved JLo. Period.
She learned everything about love except not to hook up with the wrong guys.
What does she learn? So she finally got out of the Marc marriage because she had extreme anxiety in it but can’t be alone for two seconds and ran into the arms of a sleezy backup dancer that she then began promoting in interviews and in her show and stayed even after seen coming out of a peep show/porn place known to be frequented by gays and then he’s caught with two transsexuals.
Piddy didn’t adore her. Or he did and alternately treated her like sh t also. Her fist husband was probably an emotional abuser. Marc definitely was a control freak and probably had her on eggshells in the marriage on what she did or didn’t do to please him.
In an odd way, life pushes us to confront those things in ourselves that are weak, wanting, needy or under nourished. JLo comes across as being very needy (serial back to back relationships). However, the celeb men she has dated are high achievers and undoubtedly are driven or abusive ass-holes in one form or fashion. Most high-achievers are IMO and something or someone is always neglected or stepped on whether intentional or not. Perhaps those relationships while not necessarily warm & supportive have pushed her to confront those undernourished aspects of her character. I hope so cause I am tired of seeing girlfriend jump from man-to-man and wearing icecapade-like (sp) outfits to get attention and stay in the public eye.
Beautiful
It takes a special kind of man who is secure with themselves to be with a women like J.Lo. She may very well be a diva professionally, but she strikes me as the type to not bring that into her relationships. Insecure men have a knack for belittling their woman if she is just as successful or more successful than they are. It’s their way of trying to keep them in their place. I have had similar experiences in my personal life. I’m now married and if I work FT my salary is 2x my husbands. He actually admitted that it bothers him that I make so much more than him and it causes problems. There have been quite a few asshole moves on his part and I feel like its his way of getting back at me or something.
I’m glad that she has spoken out about it. Emotional abuse is often seen as ‘not as bad as’ physical abuse in relationships but I think it’s just as bad. Having been emotionally abused by a boyfriend, I know how much it can affect you. It turned me into a shell of myself.
I am a successful, well qualified woman, more qualified and earning more than my ex, and the way my ex treated me showed just how insecure he was. He would belittle me to make me feel worthless and I ended up putting up with so much of his crap when I shouldn’t have. Thank goodness I got out.
I can relate, my ex was also emotionally abusive. Everything is great at the start, but people start showing their true colours. They do it slowly and Blane it on you.