Jennifer Lopez did not want to co-headline Super Bowl halftime show at first

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Jennifer Lopez and Shakira had arguably one of the best Super Bowl halftime performances of all time, so it's surprising to think this show almost didn't happen because J.Lo thought it was the "worst idea in the world."

In Jennifer's upcoming Netflix documentary, Halftime, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Festival Wednesday, the singer revealed all the hurdles she faced to bring her vision to life.  

Per USA Today, obstacles popped up after the NFL announced in September 2019 that J.Lo would co-headline the halftime show with Shakira. Jennifer's team was furious, arguing the NFL was suggesting Latina women didn't have enough stage presence to do the show solo.

During a scene from the movie, Jennifer says to Shakira over the phone, "If it was gonna be a double headliner, they should've given us 20 [damn] minutes." Both women were given six minutes to highlight their songs over the 12-minute performance.

"It's the worst idea in the world to have two people do the Super Bowl," Jennifer remarked while hashing out the songs she wanted to perform.

The Grammy winner also butted heads with NFL executives over the imagery she wanted to have in her set -- mainly the giant symbol of the goddess Venus and having children in cages to protest the Trump administration's separation of immigrant families at the border. 

Jennifer was pressured just hours before the show to do away with them, but she held her ground.

Elsewhere in Halftime, the documentary looks into the disappointment the singer felt when she failed to secure an Oscar for her standout performance in the 2019 movie Hustlers, as well as her performance at President Joe Biden's inauguration in January 2021.

Halftime begins streaming on Netflix June 14.

 

Thursday, June 9, 2022 at 11:00AM by Megan Stone Permalink