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Jennifer Lopez says that she was warned joining “American Idol” as a judge could be the death knell to her career.
The 50-year-old quadruple threat (singer-dancer-actress-producer) signed on as lead judge of the music competition series in 2011, during her marriage to Marc Anthony, despite urging from those around her not to do it.
“I had the kids and wasn’t being offered a whole bunch of stuff,” Lopez told Variety of her workload at the time. “I really concentrated on my marriage. I was going around with Marc. I went on two or three tours with him.”
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Lopez hoped that doing the show would display her character, which she felt had been unfairly maligned in the press following her 2002 ill-fated romance with Ben Affleck — and the focus on her infamous derriere.
“It’s probably what kids deal with, with social media now,” she said, “like ‘Everybody hates me.’ No, everybody doesn’t hate you. It’s just a few people writing a few things.”
J.Lo noted that directors actually commented on her rear in front of her, which she understandably found frustrating. “They would never say to a guy, ‘Your d—k is really big,” she said.
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“American Idol” was a breath of fresh air for Lopez, as well as a guaranteed steady gig, which was a relief at the time, as she says her record label was undergoing management shifts that had potential to put her singing career in jeopardy.
“It was a big turning point in my career. Everybody was like, ‘Don’t do this. Your career will be over, and they won’t offer you any movies. They’ll think you’re a joke as an artist,’” Lopez recalled. “And I was like, ‘The truth is, I’m not getting offered a whole bunch of movies, so what are they not going to offer me?’”
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The “Hustlers” star was happy to improve her reputation through “Idol” and counteract stories of a vicious diva attitude who didn’t know how to carry a tune — all of which ended up being proven untrue during her tenure on the series.
“You can’t hide on reality TV,” she explained. “And they got to see I was a real, caring person who was actually nice.”
Another benefit to being watched by millions weekly: “I don’t think I had been taken as seriously up until then for what I knew about music. Even though I had several hit albums, I think they put me in this ‘pretty pop’ category.”
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After the show, Lopez released her biggest dance hit, “On the Floor,” in 2015 and went on to executive produce “World of Dance” and star in “Shades of Blue” and her own Las Vegas residency.
“Everything changed,” Lopez says of her post-“Idol” career. Except it actually changed for the better.
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