Modern Divas Boxed Set

by Jessica Jayne

  Jennifer Lopez returned as a judge on the eleventh season of American Idol, earning $20 million compared to $12 million that she earned the previous year.

  She also worked with Marc Anthony, who by then was her ex-husband, along with director-choreographer Jamie King on the talent series ¡Q'Viva! The Chosen. Jennifer, Marc and Jamie traveled across 21 countries in Latin America to find new talent. The show premiered on January 28, 2012 and quickly became a hit.

  As early as late 2011, there were reports that Jennifer would be releasing a greatest hits album the following year. Her vocal producer Kuk Harrell and The-Dream confirmed their involvement in this project. L.A. Reid, chairman and CEO for Epic Records, also confirmed that the album is under way. Jennifer also confirmed her upcoming release and said that the basis for the album was “love.”

  In April 2012, the lead single from her greatest hits album was released. Dance Again, featuring rapper Pitbull, entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 17. The single became Jennifer’s 12th number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Songs. She performed the song on American Idol on May 10 and was joined by her new boyfriend, Casper Smart.

  Jennifer performed her single Dance Again on American Idol

  That same month, Jennifer was featured on Wisin & Yandel’s song Follow the Leader from their upcoming album. She also performed the song on American Idol.

  She would be working on two possible new songs, Clothes Off and Goin’ In. Another three songs will appear on her greatest hits album. She recorded Goin’ In with Florida for the film Step Up Revolution. She performed the single, along with Follow the Leader, at the finale of American Idol. Goin’ In will be released as a single in June 2012.

  Other Projects

  Jennifer confirmed that she had been working on a possible tour and had talked previously about the possibility of a tour after the release of her Love? album in June 2011. But it never materialized because it might have jeopardize her position as a judge on Idol.

  In April 2012, it was announced that Jennifer would join Enrique Iglesias on a co-headlining tour in the US. The tour will earn her about $13 million. About the tour, she said, “It’s going to be one of the most historic tours ever. […] There’s never been something like this, where Latinos come together like this. […] I just think it’s very groundbreaking. I was honored to be asked to be a part of it.”

  But first, Jennifer will begin her Dance Again World Tour that will carry out throughout her tour with Iglesias. It will begin in Panama City on June 14 and will include legs in Europe, South America and Asia.

  In June, Jennifer will also perform for her first headlining concert in Brazil for the Pop Music Festival.

  After years of concentrating on her music, Jennifer turned her attention once again on films. She starred in the movie What to Expect When You’re Expecting as Holly, a woman who adopts a baby with her husband after having difficulty conceiving. Jennifer and her co-star Cameron Diaz both received a nomination for Choice Movie Actress in a Comedy Film at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards. The movie opened at number 5 at the box office and grossed $10.55 million during its first week.

  Jennifer also voices Shira in the upcoming animated film, Ice Age: Continental Drift, the fourth movie in the Ice Age series. The movie will be released in the US in July 2012. There were also reports that Jennifer, who had shot her parts already, would appear in the film Parker which will be released in 2013. The movie’s director Taylor Hackford has praises for Jennifer’s performance. “I’m not kidding, this woman can really act. The last several years she’s been doing romantic comedies – that’s a talent, but as a dramatic actress she’s got fantastic cops.” In the movie, Jennifer is “a real estate agent who finds that a little larceny may in fact be in the cards for her.”

  In May 2012, Jennifer was on top of Forbes’ Celebrity 100 List, becoming the most powerful celebrity in the world for the magazine’s 2012 edition. She beat Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga for the coveted title, earning $52 million from May 2011- May 2012. Forbes said that Jennifer’s topping the list was due to her role as a judge on American Idol, her fragrances, her endorsement deals, and her highly publicized personal life in the past year. The previous year, Jennifer was ranked 50th on the list.

  Chapter 8 – The Businesswoman

  For a girl who hailed from the South Bronx and “grew up on very limited resources”, Jennifer has done well for herself. She’s not only a well-paid actress and singer, songwriter and dancer, but she has also proven herself capable in other areas such as producing and fashion designing.

  In 2001, Jennifer launched a lifestyle brand called J. Lo by Jennifer Lopez which offered various types of clothing for young women such as jeans, belt, shirts, and lingerie. It also included a jewelry line and an accessory line.

  Jennifer also decided to work with Andy Hilfiger, Tommy Hilfiger’s brother, and founded her fashion line called “Sweetface” at New York Fashion Week. Sweetface produced lines of women’s clothing, footwear, intimate apparel, jewelry and fragrances that bear the nickname J. Lo. In 2004, the first freestanding J. Lo store in Moscow was opened. The brands were sold in more than nine countries.

  One of Jennifer’s perfumes

  Sweetface went on hiatus in June 2009, but it earned as much as $200 million in retail sales.

  In 2007, Jennifer retired J. Lo by Jennifer Lopez and launched JustSweet. Two years later, “Sweetface” was put on hiatus but soon announced that it had been closed down. Jennifer then partnered with her ex-husband Marc Anthony and launched a joint fashion line at Kohls. The line was released in October 2011.

  Jennifer also launched her own Cuban restaurant in April 2002. A lot of celebrity friends showed up for opening night, including Ben Affleck, Carmen Electra, and Vivica Fox. Called Madre’s, the restaurant was an elegant room boasting white linen and lace ruffles on the tablecloths, with chandeliers and an in-house cigar maker for those Cuban cigars.

  J. Lo had hired her first husband, Ojani Noa, to manage the restaurant but fired him a few months later. Madre’s closed in July 2008. Jennifer invested on The Conga Room where Ojani worked as manager.

  She also decided to venture into the perfume industry and had since been credited for bringing back celebrity perfume endorsements which were “dead” since the 1980s. She debuted her perfume Glow by J. Lo which has a scent of grapefruit, Irises, jasmine, orange, orris, musk and vanilla. She released Still by Jennifer Lopez in October 2003 and it was described as the “scent of a woman” and “A scent that captures the way a woman feels when she has discovered herself. Real and true. Serene and sensual.”

  Currently, Glow by J. Lo and Still are still very much successful in the market.

  Jennifer again launched new fragrances in 2005: Miami Glow, Love at First Glow and Live. Glow After Dark was released in 2006. She ventured into male fragrance and released Deseo, Deseo Forever, and Deseo for Men and Live Platinum. She then released Sunkissed Glow and My Glow in 2009. Her next fragrance was Blue Glow. Love & Glamour was released in October 2010. This was followed by L.A. Glow, and Love & Light, which sold 51,000 bottles within six hours.

  Chapter 9 – A High-Profile Love Life

  Throughout Jennifer Lopez’ career, the other facet of her life that garnered such media interest was her love life. She had high-profile relationships with famous men such as Puff Daddy and Ben Affleck. These relationships and marriages, which all ended in divorce, were particularly painful for Jennifer, but they were also a source of learning and growing up.

  Jennifer’s first proper boyfriend was David Cruz, whom she met when she was 15 and dated for nine years. They had been engaged, but they ended their relationship in 1994. But they still remained friends, with Jennifer saying in 2004, “He’s a friend and he probably knows me better than anyone else.”

  Jennifer’s first wedding was to Cuban Ojani Noa

  Jennifer’s first marriage was to Ojani Noa, whom she met while filming Blood and Wine in Miami. She and Arlene, her best friend since grade school an
d assistant, were dining at Larios on the Beach. One of the waiters was Noa. Jennifer told her assistant, “That’s the man I’m going to marry.” She did, but it would a while before she could be introduced to the man who turned out to be a recent émigré from Cuba.

  To be able to see the object of her desire, Jennifer became a regular at Larios, but her shyness kept her from approaching Noa, partly because her Spanish wasn’t good and Noa’s first language was Spanish.

  She told Cosmopolitan that to get Noa’s attention, she did “everything in the book. I would go see him at the restaurant where he waited tables all the time and walk past him to the bathroom a million times. One time, he was coming my way, and I slipped. I was so mortified! He was like, ‘Careful.’”

  Eventually, the two dated, and from then on, “it was mad love.” Noa would join her while she filmed Selena on location in Texas. Noa was also there to accompany her to the wrap party at the Hard Rock Café in San Antonio in 1996. She and Noa danced. Later on, Noa grabbed a microphone and walked up to her. Jennifer related the story to Cosmopolitan, thinking that her boyfriend was going to “say something about how hard I worked.” But it wasn’t what he said. In Spanish, he said, “I just want to say one thing: Jennifer, will you marry me?” It was so unexpected that she was reduced to tears. Noa got down on one knee and “puts the ring on my finger. It was very, very romantic.”

  It was Noa who called Jennifer “La Guitarra” because he thought her body was shaped liked a guitar.

  The couple got married on February 22, 1997 in a Catholic ceremony attended by 200 family members and friends, in Miami. A few months later, rumors circulated that the marriage was in trouble. Speculations were made after the couple had a loud dispute in a Los Angeles restaurant. Jennifer’s publicist denied the allegations, adding that they were “madly in love,” so madly that they again married in Malibu.

  In November 1997, a music video by Sean John Combs, Been Around the World, was released and featured some celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez. Combs, popularly known by his stage name Puff Daddy (and later, P. Diddy), had a surprise dance sequence with Jennifer in the video.

  Jennifer and Puff Daddy

  By this time, Combs had established himself as one of the top rap moguls in the industry and was already a millionaire in his twenties. And he wasn’t about to hide his wealth. He owned and drove a $375,000 Bentley and a $2.5 million Easthampton, New York, estate. In short, he was everything Noa wasn’t. It was reported that Combs was the inspiration behind Jennifer’s single, Love Don’t Cost a Thing.

  Combs was successful and driven. And it’s really not hard to understand why Jennifer would turn to him when she needed a confidant, but the two insisted, right from the beginning, that their relationship was purely friendship.

  But soon it would become noticeable that Jennifer usually traveled alone while her husband was busy with his new job as manager of the Conga Room, a Los Angeles Latin club. At the March 1998 Oscars, Jennifer was without Ojani. And at the post-Oscar party, Jennifer and Combs got cozy.

  The two remained mum about their relationship until September 1999. A few months later, Jennifer found herself in the midst of the biggest scandal of her life.

  A lot of reports had their own versions of what took place at Club New York in Manhattan on December 26, 1999. But police reports indicated that Combs and Jennifer were at the club with one of Combs’ Bad Boy artists, his bodyguard, and about thirty friends. Eyewitness recalled that Combs flaunted his wealth by tossing a wad of money around, which annoyed some of the club’s other patrons. They confronted him, and one man allegedly threw some bills back at Combs.

  Eyewitnesses reported that Combs drew a gun. And then Shyne, Combs’ Bad Boy artist, pulled out a gun as well and opened fire. The whole place was in pandemonium from that moment on, with three bystanders hit. No one was seriously injured. In the commotion that followed, Jennifer and Combs fled in his car. The Manhattan prosecutor assigned to the case claimed that the couple attempted to evade the police and ran ten red lights in the process. They were finally pulled over by the police and claimed that they discovered a stolen 9mm in the car. They were taken into custody.

  It must have been the most embarrassing experience Jennifer had had, particularly when she was held for almost 14 hours. Reports said that she was handcuffed to a bench and spent the morning of December 27 crying. She was worried about how her mother would react to the situation and said, “My mother’s going to be so upset.”

  Jennifer was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing. Combs, on the other hand, was freed after paying his bail of ten thousand dollars.

  This was the time for Jennifer to run away from Combs; instead, she was even more determined to stand by him. A friend of her said, “It’s tough for her because she does really love Puffy. He has what she likes – determination and aggressiveness. But she also knows it might be a choice between a doomed relationship and a doomed career.”

  As it turned out, the relationship ended. They parted ways in 2001 after Combs was involved in a shooting. Combs said he was “heartbroken” over their split and subsequently changed his stage name to P. Diddy for a “fresh start.”

  Jennifer married a second time, this time to Chris Judd, her former backup dancer. They met while Jennifer was filming the music video for Love Don’t Cost a Thing and began dating in early 2001 before Jennifer and Combs publicly broke up. Jennifer and Judd married on September 29, 2001 in the L.A. suburbs. Judd appeared in Jennifer’s video for I’m Gonna Be Alright (Track Remix).

  Jennifer’s second husband, Cris Judd, was her former backup dancer

  Unfortunately, their marriage was also doomed, ending in June 2002. In much the same way, Jennifer began seeing her new boyfriend in June 2002 even before her divorce with Judd was finalized.

  Perhaps, Jennifer’s relationship with actor Ben Affleck was the most publicized of all her relationships. Rumors that they were secretly seeing each other began as early as November 2001 when the two were filming Gigli. Soon after, Jennifer and Ben began seeing each other publicly in June 2002 following their announcement of their relationship on Jennifer’s 32nd birthday. She then filed for divorce from Judd only three days after she began introducing Ben as her boyfriend.

  Jennifer’s relationship with Ben Affleck, who appeared on her Jenny from the Block music video, was highly publicized

  The media began calling the couple “Bennifer” which lasted throughout their relationship. They then became a supercouple in the media, and Ben even appeared in the music video of Jennifer’s Jenny from the Block single.

  In July 2002, Ben threw a party for Jennifer’s 33rd birthday and gave her a Harry Winston bracelet of yellow and gold diamonds. In November, he proposed and they were nearly married on September 14, 2003.

  Ben’s proposal went like this: He took Jennifer to his mother’s home in Boston, which was decorated with rose petals. Background music of Jennifer’s song was playing as Ben read a letter of the reasons why he loved her. He then got on his knee and presented her with a six carat pink-diamond engagement ring.

  They were to marry in September 2003 at Sotto II Monte near Santa Barbara, California. Their guests would include Ben’s best friend, Matt Damon and other friends such as Bruce Willis and Britney Spears. Ben and Jennifer went through a lot of trouble to keep the event secret, even to the point of having vendors sign a confidentiality agreement and not telling their 400 guests the location. But information leaked to the media. And hungry for news, press members began to flock to Santa Barbara. Just a few days before the wedding date, the couple decided to delay their nuptials because of the overwhelming press interest.

  In January 2004, Jennifer was seen without her engagement ring, and a few days later, Jennifer announced that she had split from Ben after their 18-month relationship. US reported that Jennifer wanted to marry and start a family soon with Ben, who loved partying and gambling. But the relationship allegedly turned sour after Jennifer saw photos of Ben with his best
friend Matt Damon with a “group of beautiful women” in a German nightclub.

  Jennifer next found love in Marc Anthony just a few weeks after she broke up with Ben Affleck. Marc was a longtime friend with whom Jennifer collaborated musically a few times in the past. They dated in 1999 before his first marriage and her second marriage.

  Jennifer and her third husband, Marc Anthony, were longtime friends before they married

  In 2003, Marc and his wife, former Miss Universe, Dayanara Torres, separated. Torres filed for divorce three months later. Jennifer and Marc married on June 5, 2004 at her Miami Beach mansion just four days after Marc’s divorce from Torres was finalized. To avoid turning the wedding into a media frenzy, the guests were invited to an “afternoon party” at Jennifer’s house and were unaware that they were going to attend a wedding ceremony.

  All throughout their relationship, both Jennifer and Marc kept quiet and stayed away from the media. They had previously agreed not to publicize their marriage to allow them more privacy and time together.

  Even days after the wedding, Marc refused to comment about their marriage during interviews. But in February 2005, Jennifer confirmed the marriage.

  Jennifer and Marc joined together to co-headline a worldwide tour called Juntos en Concierto. It was launched in September 2007 and ended in November 2007 in Miami, Florida. By the end of their tour, the couple announced that they were expecting a child, which would be Jennifer’s first and Marc’s fourth. Reports arose the following month that Jennifer was having difficulties with her pregnancies. Her representatives denied this, saying that Jennifer “is very healthy and continuing with her schedule as planned.”