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Preparations are in high gear for Super Bowl LIV. This year, the biggest football game of the season is set to take place in Miami Gardens, Florida. National Football League (NFL) fans across the country will watch the San Francisco 49ers face off against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Though many people will be tuning in to the game, others might be more invested in the classic commercials or the Super Bowl halftime show. Either way, the Super Bowl is the optimal time to bring out your best chips, dips and cheesy dishes.

This year, as we lounge on our couches — two massive names in music have teamed up to deliver the Super Bowl halftime show, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. Obviously, this is about to be an incredibly upbeat collab full of shimmies, shakes and a ton of dancing.

Jennifer Lopez and Shakira have been planning their show for months

With the intense backlash surrounding the NFL after they shut out Colin Kaepernick for exercising his American right to protest — many artists of color have shunned the halftime show. However, Jay-Z and Roc Nation have recently partnered with the NFL to try and rehab this situation. Since they will be producing the halftime show, Lopez and Shakira have decided to press forward with their choice to perform. In fact, they have been getting their set just right for months.

“I am excited,” Lopez said in Variety‘s “Actors on Actors” series. “I think there’s not a musical artist in the world that doesn’t dream of performing at the Super Bowl.” Lopez and Shakira will follow in the footsteps of Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, and Janet Jackson among others.

“We’re both excited to have been given the opportunity to do that, as two Latin women, in Miami,” the Hustlers actress revealed. “I think it’s important in this day and age for two Latin women to be standing on that stage — when Latinos are being treated a certain way in this country, or looked at a certain way — to show that we have a really specific and beautiful culture and worth and value, and we bring something to this country that’s necessary.”

Shakira and Jennifer Lopez aren’t getting paid for their Super Bowl halftime show

Preparing a show of this magnitude takes a massive amount of work and collaboration. “I have been doing a lot of meetings … been prepping and hiring the people and putting concepts and ideas for the show together,” Lopez explained to Extra! in November 2019. “Shakira and I have spoken a few times already. She’s putting her thing together, [I’m] putting my thing together, thinking about who we want to join us onstage, if we want that.”

The ladies’ performances will be purely for prestige. Artists are not paid for their halftime shows. Still, the NFL does cover all production costs — which they can more than afford, “We do not pay the artists,” NFL spokesperson Joanna Hunter said Forbes. “We cover expenses and production costs.”

Inside Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s Superbowl feud

As the Super Bowl approaches, things, unfortunately, have gotten a little chilly between the entertainers. “As usual with these Super Bowl performances, the performers are having trouble fitting their set into the time constraints,” an insider told Love B. Scott. “Right now, the halftime show in the works is running way longer than the allotted time. The NFL, along with the powers-that-be are trying to solve the issue. There were initial plans for them to perform a significant portion of the halftime show together — but that’s out the window. As of now, they’re just planning to appear briefly together at the end of the set. There isn’t any real feud, but there’s definitely a chill in the air between the two stars.”

Things are also allegedly strained since Lopez initially thought the halftime show was her’s alone. The source revealed,

They’re telling everyone that limiting how much time Jennifer and Shakira spend on stage together has a lot to do with their different styles of music, but others close to production say that it has more to do with the fact that Jennifer was forced into sharing the performance with Shakira in the first place. Initially, she believed the halftime show was hers alone — only to have the NFL and Pepsi (the Super Bowl halftime show sponsor) add Shakira later.

Despite any friction, both of these ladies are professionals, so we know that the show is going to be incredible.


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Aramide Tinubu

A brunch enthusiast with a penchant for books and movies. When I’m not writing entertainment news you can find me reviewing movies, sipping coffee between flights, or dragging myself to the gym.

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