She has been dubbed the ‘Queen of Dance’ and is considered one of the most influential Latin entertainer of all time with six albums going Platinum.
But Jennifer Lopez‘s carer seemed to have plateaued of late.
He recent tour, her first in five years, has been met with low ticket sales, while her new album is lacking her typical fanfare, debuting at number 38 on the Billboard 200, despite getting the most physical sales of the week at 14,000 copies.
This is a far cry from her early noughties peak, when the singer sold more than 80 million records and had global headline tours.
Even four years ago, the star was applauded for one of the greatest Superbowl halftime shows in history, where she performed a medley of her greatest hits with Shakira as millions of people watched around the world.
So, where exactly did Jenny from the Block go wrong?
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Weeks after Jennifer Lopez suddenly cancelled several dates from her tour for seemingly no reason, it seems the entire tour itself is being rebranded.
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The couple’s love story started in 2002 (pictured) when they dated while filming the movie Jersey Girl. They became engaged the following year but broke up in 2004
There certainly isn’t a lack of advertising. The mother-of-two’s campaign for her latest album, This is Me… Now, is self-financed – at a striking cost of $20million.
The album, which is heavily-inspired by her rekindled romance with husband Ben Affleck, has been accompanied by a a visual film, This is Me Now… A Love Story (dubbed ‘bonkers’ and a ‘over-the-top delight for fans’ by critics).
An Amazon Prime documentary titled The Greatest Love Story Never Told, about her romance with the Batman star, also accompanied the release. The moniker is an interesting choice, given the couple called off their first wedding due to ‘excessive media attention’.
But why would this mean fans are turning on the once beloved star?
Her appearance in the documentary, has seen her dubbed ‘out of touch’ and ‘delusional’ by some fans. In one – widely reshared – moment J Lo plays with her hair in the mirror while reminiscing about her upbringing in the Bronx, a famously working-class neighbourhood of New York.
‘I like taking my hair out like this,’ she says.
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The 54-year-old singer announced the tour in February – her first nationwide tour in five years – to support her new album This Is Me… Now
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Now it’s been revealed that the tour will be re-titled from This Is Me… Now: The Tour to This Is Me… Live, focusing more on her greatest hits, via Variety
‘It reminds me, like, when I was 16 in the Bronx, running up and down the block. Crazy little girl who used to f***ing be wild and no limits, all dreams.’
The clip gained backlash on TikTok, with one user – who goes by Angela and claims to have gone to the same school as the hitmaker – saying she was ‘lying to look more human’.
‘We both attended an all-girls high school in an Irish and Italian neighbourhood, so you weren’t “running up and down the block”,’ she said.
Critics too have met the documentary – and album – with a lukewarm response.
‘For all her promises to show us the real her, it’s a struggle to see it in the slick and sexy production,’ The Independent said. The Guardian added it ‘offers very little outside of simply soundtracking a cosy night in chez Bennifer’ adding it was ‘hopelessly middle of the road’.
So, why have the tides turned? Mostly, the star isn’t keeping up with the times according to one brand expert.
‘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, ‘ Emily M Austen, who runs the PR agency EMERGE told Femail.
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Jennifer Lopez emotionally recalled breaking off her marriage to Ben Affleck in 2004 when they first dated
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The singer, 54, opened up about her relationship with her husband Ben, 51, in her new documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told
‘The control of what was fed out to fans via social media and press coverage meant it was much easier to control her image.
‘The first big moment for the backlash came as the Superbowl documentary, Halftime, aired in 2022.
‘Her behaviour 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 shadow of beloved and long suffering Jennifer Garner, [Ben Affleck’s ex-wife] much of the imagery we have seen from J Lo has been mundane – car rides with Ben, curb side arguments, fast food takeaways.
‘Often looking miserable. This has shattered the fourth wall, one which we’d all bought into. We didn’t want her to be a normal person.
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Critics have blasted Jennifer Lopez’s new film This In Me… Now: A Love Story as a ‘self-financed and resolutely, painfully autobiographical’ vanity project
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Jennifer Lopez once revealed how Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs (pictured together in 2000) was the first man to cheat on her during their ‘tumultuous’ relationship from 1999 until 2001
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The rebrand is expected to draw in fans from her previous work, which may lure in listeners who didn’t connect with This Is Me… Now
‘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.
