Jennifer Lopez Tells Howard Stern She Was ‘Always Scared’ to Come on His Show After He Trashed Her for Years
On Oct. 15, Jennifer Lopez sat down with Howard Stern for an interview. For over 20 years, Stern spoke extremely critically about Lopez, with jibes about her style, music, and relationships. Lopez admitted to Stern that she felt nervous about appearing on his show. This wasn’t because he is one of her longtime critics, though.
Howard Stern has spoken very harshly about Jennifer Lopez over the years
For nearly 20 years, Stern was one of Lopez’s biggest haters. Per the Daily Mail, he has harshly criticized her fashion choices, called her early-2000s relationship with Ben Affleck “ridiculous,” and asserted his belief that she is a “diva.”
When Lopez was a judge on American Idol, Stern said she sounded “phony” and called her the worst judge on the show. He also doubted her acting abilities in various projects.
After the 2015 Oscars, Stern said the highlight for him was when Lopez tripped over her dress. He said he “can’t stand her” because she “just rubs [him] the wrong way.”
Lopez has stated that criticism about her career is the most hurtful.
Jennifer Lopez admitted she was worried about talking to Howard Stern
Despite his history of insulting her, Lopez agreed to appear on Stern’s show while promoting her film Kiss of the Spider Woman. She admitted she felt nervous about the interview.
“I was always scared to come on the show,” she said at the start of their conversation.
Lopez felt hesitant to speak to Stern for a surprising reason, though. After she said her exes are “dead” to her once the relationship ends, Lopez joked that she was “going to get in trouble.”
“This is why I never wanted to come on here. I’ll get in trouble,” she said, per People. “No, but I’m one of those people, I don’t hold on, to be honest. Not dead to me — but definitely, it’s over, I’m going to move on.”
She has opened up about facing criticism over the years
Lopez is no stranger to criticism. Over the years, she has faced both praise and ire from the general public. She said this started early in her career.
“When I first started in the business, I came out and worked with Francis Ford Coppola, with Steven Soderbergh, and my record goes straight to number one,” she told Nikki Glaser for Interview Magazine. “All of this stuff was happening and then, all of a sudden, they started criticizing me and you’re like, ‘Wait, what? That’s not true. That’s not who I am.’”
Over the course of her lengthy career, she has learned to deal with even the harshest critics. Lopez said she knows who she is, and that’s what matters most to her.
“I was like, ‘I know who I am when I lay my head down at night and that’s what matters,’” she said. “And that stuck with me, and that’s always, again, that little girl inside of you who so deserves credit and comfort and joy. Life beats you down as you go, and then you have to always go back and connect to that innocent, optimistic, bright-eyed person that you were when you started out. That is something I always had, and I was able to survive those tough moments of a long career where things go up and down, where everybody loves you and then everybody’s jumping on you, and then everybody loves you. That happens if you have a long career.”
