Jennifer Lopez’s new Netflix documentary Halftime gives fans an inside look at the process of creating her iconic 2020 Super Bowl halftime show. The documentary also looks back on her career, and the scrutiny she received in the press.
After the 2000 Grammys, where Lopez wore the famous green dress, much attention went to her backside. The documentary shows a clip of 2002 interview with Billy Bush, in which, Bush asks Lopez, “How do you feel about your butt?”
J.Lo responds, “Are you kidding me? You did not just ask me that.”
“I did,” said Bush.
In the documentary, Lopez recalled this, and several other moments, and said, “It was hard when you think people think you’re a joke, like you’re a punchline. But I wound up affecting things in a way that I never intended to affect them.”
Over the years, Lopez has achieved several remarkable feats in the realms of music and film. However, she admits that she felt people felt more focused on her body, her marriages, and her rumored diva-like behavior, as opposed to her art.
“No matter what I achieved, their appetite to cover my personal life overshadowed everything that was happening in my career,” Lopez said. “I just had very low self-esteem. I really believed a lot of what they said, which was that I wasn’t any good — I wasn’t a good singer, I wasn’t a good actress, I wasn’t a good dancer, I wasn’t good at anything. I just didn’t even belong here why wouldn’t I just go away.”
In the days leading up to her halftime performance, fans see the process that went into planning the portion of the show in which children appear in neon-light cages in protest of the detainment of immigrant children in ICE detention centers. Higher-ups from the NFL initially wanted to cut this portion, but Lopez refused to give into their requests.
“For me, this isn’t about politics; this is about human rights,” She said. “I’m facing the biggest crossroads of my life — being able to perform on the biggest stage of my life, but to take out the cages and sacrifice everything I believe in would be like never being here at all.”