Jennifer Lopez Shares Her Frustration Over the 2020 Halftime Show

If you’re anything like us, you might have loved 2020’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, featuring none other than Latina powerhouses Shakira and Jennifer Lopez.

Fans around the world applauded the two stars for bringing Hispanic power to the forefront of the nation, making a political statement as much as a musical one. That being said, Lopez is now speaking out — and says it was the “worst idea in the world.”

There’s no doubt both singers’ performances at the halftime show were nothing short of spectacular. Shakira started off with her song “She Wolf,” looping into iconic tracks like “Ojos Así” and “Whenever, Wherever” as she belly danced. J.Lo took the second half and wowed the audience with tracks like “Jenny From The Block” and “Get Right” with skills that showed why she’s one of the best ever. Oh, and Bad Bunny made an appearance and referenced “Latino gang,” so it was perfect. 

Lopez also brought in a political component to her performance, welcoming in children (including her own daughter, Emme) to the stage in cages — representing the many detained children in cages at the border. Shakira also joined in for an emotional, group rendition of “Let’s Get Loud” and “Born In the USA,” all the while J.Lo came back draped with a double-sided Puerto Rican and U.S. flag.

Social media immediately exploded after the performance, which is exactly the reason why people are very confused that Lopez thinks it was the “worst idea” for a halftime show. So what gives? The “I’m Real” singer explained in the upcoming Netflix documentary “Halftime,” that the time allotted to each star was too short — and possibly even discriminatory.

Lopez can be seen venting her frustrations in the doc, saying, “We have six f—ing minutes. We have 30 seconds of a song, and if we take a minute, that’s it, we’ve got five left.” She continued, “It’s not going to be a dance f—ing revue. We have to sing our message… This is the worst idea in the world to have two people do the Super Bowl. It was the worst idea in the world.”

The Puerto Rican singer’s manager Benny Medina agreed, bringing up how other artists have always been given standalone halftime performances — so why not Latinas? He described, “Typically, you have one headliner at a Super Bowl. That headliner constructs a show, and, should they choose to have other guests, that’s their choice.” Medina continued, “It was an insult to say you needed two Latinas to do the job that one artist historically has done.” Agreed.

Another scene in the documentary shows J.Lo and Shakira talking about the situation over the phone, with Lopez telling the Colombian star, “​​If it was gonna be a double headliner, they should’ve given us 20 (expletive) minutes.” They ultimately agreed to split their 12-minute total performance time.

The documentary also goes into how Lopez’s deep frustrations regarding former President Trump’s racist rhetoric and immigration policies inspired her performance. Raising up Latinos through imagery of cages, the Puerto Rican flag and her song “Let’s Get Loud,” the film shows that the NFL was not for it. 

Executives thought the cages were “too political,” with Lopez explaining, “We left rehearsal and I noticed everybody was freaking out… I get a call from Benny 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.’” Medina chimed in, describing how, “The NFL had a real concern about making a political statement about immigration… They did not want those cages in the show.”

That being said, Lopez refused to back down. She said, “For me, this isn’t about politics. This is about human rights… ​​[I] got very zen and I was just like, ‘Benny I don’t care what you have to do, we’re not changing the show.’”

With new reports that the “Ain’t Your Mama” singer just partnered with the organization Grameen America to pump $14 billion in capital for Latina entrepreneurs, and will also serve as a mentor to them, it’s clear Lopez will always put her “Latino gang” first.