‘It was the WORST idea in the world’: Jennifer Lopez angry at having to share her show with Shakira

‘It was the WORST idea in the world’: Jennifer Lopez angry at having to share her show with Shakira
#Shakira #GerardPiqué #barcelona

In February 2020, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira were astonishing with a marathon Super Bowl halftime show that flawlessly wed pageantry with politics.
But in “Halftime,” a new documentary that opened the annual Tribeca Festival Wednesday, Lopez reveals that it was hardly smooth sailing in the months and weeks leading up to the performance.
In candid interviews and fly-on-the-wall footage captured by director Amanda Micheli in the summer of 2019, Lopez tries to keep mum about speculation she’s the “front-runner” to headline the halftime show. So when the announcement comes that September she’ll be joined by Shakira, Lopez’s team calls it a slight against both women, suggesting that the NFL doesn’t believe Latinas can command the world’s biggest stage solo.
Lopez, to be clear, doesn’t blame Shakira, and both artists are shown collaborating and supporting each other throughout the documentary. But Lopez doesn’t hold back about the NFL.
“If it was gonna be a double headliner, they should’ve given us 20 (expletive) minutes,” she tells Shakira by phone, after agreeing to evenly split up their 12-minute performance time.
Later in the film, Lopez attempts to hash out her Super Bowl set list with her music director, expressing frustration with how few songs she can realistically do in the six minutes allotted to her.
“It’s the worst idea in the world to have two people do the Super Bowl,” Lopez says.
Early in the documentary, the singer gets emotional discussing former President Donald Trump and his anti-immigration policies, explaining how his dangerous rhetoric inspired her to make a statement with her Super Bowl performance.
During the halftime show, more than a dozen children appeared on the football field in light-up cages, which they then walked out of singing Lopez’s “Let’s Get Loud” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.” They were joined moments later by Lopez, draped in a feathery Puerto Rican flag.
NFL higher-ups worried the cages would be “too political,” and also encouraged her to lose the giant Venus symbol for “woman” on stage, saying it was heavy-handed. But Lopez held her ground on both issues, despite pressure from the NFL to make changes just hours before showtime.
In addition to the Super Bowl, “Halftime” offers a disheartening look at Lopez’s unsuccessful bid for her first Oscar nomination, after receiving career-best reviews for her megawatt performance in the 2019 stripper drama “Hustlers.”
The film ends with her performance at President Joe Biden’s inauguration in January 2021, meaning it doesn’t touch on her breakup with Alex Rodriguez nor her reunion with Ben Affleck last year. (Although, Affleck appears in a brief talking-head interview about how Lopez weathers tabloid mockery and negative press.)
“We didn’t have any ground rules about what was off-limits,” Micheli told USA TODAY on the red carpet before Wednesday’s premiere. “She was very open to having these extensive conversations with me and didn’t edit herself at all. For me personally, I wasn’t interested in doing an exposé on Jennifer’s relationships, but it was important that we at least touch on that. I think we found the right balance.”
“It’s great,” Tribeca co-founder Robert De Niro said of the fest returning in earnest. “I think everybody just wants to get out (of the house).”

Shakira reportedly did not get along with Gerard Pique’s teammates’ wives and girlfriends, particularly Lionel Messi’s wife, Antonella Roccuzzo.
This is the latest in a long line of allegations regarding the Colombian singer since the high profile split with the Barcelona defender.
Journalist Lorena Vasquez asserted on the programme El Spectador that Pique’s ex-girlfriend never got along with his pals because of her dictatorial nature. The reporter also claimed that Shakira and Messi’s wife, Antonella, in particular, did not get along well. All of this apparently caused Pique’s friends to refer to the Colombian by the title ‘La Patrona’.
“She’s going through a very difficult time. She has to be sad; I’ve been through that too. I definitely felt sad; it’s a very difficult time and well, when you have such a beautiful family,” Colombian artist Carlos Vives said when asked about Shakira by the Cadena 100 station.
Ibai Llanos, a close friend and streamer of Pique, has stated that the Barcelona defender is fine and getting ready for the upcoming season.
“The press has talked a lot, but now he’s preparing for the season with Barcelona and he’s doing well. Everything’s fine,” Llanos stated.
Since news of Pique’s breakup broke last month, he has frequently been in the press.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta asked fans to support the seasoned defender.
“Pique is suffering,” Laporta told Sport.