Music

Jennifer Lopez Insisted on Including the Woman Symbol in Her Super Bowl Halftime Show

Jennifer Lopez was known for making music throughout her career and not delivering a serious message. But with her 2020 Super Bowl halftime show, she wanted to make a statement.

by Chris Malone

Published on June 16, 2022

3 min read

Jennifer Lopez and Shakira performed at the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show

Viewers got an inside look at the behind-the-scenes creation of J. Lo’s show. This included several children singers in lit-up cages on the football field — meant as a direct shot at the Trump administration’s immigration policies. While the children were singing, the camera gave an overhead view of the stage, lit up in the shape of a female symbol.

Jennifer Lopez wanted the woman symbol in the halftime show

When discussing with NFL organizers about the elements of the show, the female symbol was one of the things they wanted to change.

“We just want to get the woman symbol up at the front,” Lopez said of the stage feature. “It’s gotta be subtle. We have to be subtle with our message, because people don’t want to be hit over the f***ing head with it.”

In response, halftime show director Hamish Hamilton let Lopez know about the issues that including the symbol could bring up.

“The only thing within [the show] that isn’t subtle and actually is contentious, given everything going with identity politics at the moment, is the female symbol,” he said. “I think that that could be reviewed by some people as being actually exclusive, and I think also it seems to be a little bit on-the-nose and something that might have been at a Super bowl a while back.”

“It doesn’t seem to have the artistry,” he added. “I understand the meaning behind it, but I think that what you’re saying within the show is way more powerful than having that symbol out there.”

For her part, Lopez was pleased that the team seemed to be on board with the cage portion of the show. Ultimately, everything she wanted in the show was kept.

J. Lo wanted the show to have a message

As Lopez later explained, the NFL did end up having a problem with her making a political statement. They even attempted to cut it from the show the day before the big game.

“We left rehearsal and I noticed everybody was freaking out, but I don’t know why,” Lopez recalled. “I get a call from [manager] Benny [Medina] and he’s like, ‘They want to pull the cages.’ That night, the higher-ups at the NFL saw it for the first time and they’re like, ‘Hey, you can’t do that.'”

“The NFL had a real concern about making a political statement about immigration,” Medina explained. “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.”

Lopez, however, was adamant about making a statement.

“For me, this isn’t about politics, this is about human rights,” she said. “I’m facing the biggest crossroads of my life, to be able to perform on the world’s biggest stage, but to take out the cages and sacrifice what I believe in would be like never being there at all.”

“There was a part of me that just got very zen, and I was just like, ‘Benny, I don’t care what you have to do, we’re not changing the show. The Super Bowl is tomorrow and we’re not changing anything.'”