Jennifer Lopez faces Howard Stern
Jennifer Lopez made her first-ever appearance on The Howard Stern Show this week, which was a long time in the making after Stern spent years criticizing her looks, talent, and relationships. He has a long history of mocking Lopez on-air, including a particularly harsh comment back in 2001 when he ridiculed her Academy Award dress, claiming it “looks like a potato sack.”
During the same time, he slammed her vocals, claiming her singing sounded like karaoke and proved she ‘wasn’t a great singer.’ By 2012, he was still at it, dismissing her as ‘the worst judge out there’ during her stint on American Idol.
He went on to ridicule her romance with Ben Affleck in 2003, calling it ‘ridiculous but real.’ Despite years of public jabs, the 56-year-old Kiss of the Spider Woman star put on a brave face to finally join Stern on his SiriusXM show Wednesday.
Lopez opened the interview by admitting, ‘I was always scared to come on the show.’
However, fans were surprised as she revealed it wasn’t because of his past comments — it was because she worried she might ‘say something’ she regrets. As it turned out, the two didn’t dwell on past digs and hit it off immediately.
Lopez discussed everything from her dating life and fame to getting older and even revealed the one movie role she regrets turning down.
Howard began the interview by asking Lopez if fame complicated dating other celebrities. In her response, she seemed to allude to her recent breakup with Ben Affleck. Lopez filed for divorce from Affleck in August 2024, about two years after their reunion and wedding in July 2022. The couple had originally dated and been engaged nearly 20 years prior.
‘It’s difficult to be under that microscope,’ she agreed.
Howard pressed, ‘Does it seem like everything is doomed from the beginning?’
‘No, I don’t feel that,’ she quickly replied.
‘I feel that the right person who can handle that and… I think I made mistakes… in the sense that I live my life very out loud… even though I’m in the public eye.’
‘And I wanted to share my life with someone. I want someone to be there to share my big important moments on the red carpet.
‘So I didn’t hide from it. And I spoke about it. And I think now, after what’s happened in the past few years to me and to my children, I feel like… I just want to keep that part so much more quiet in my life.’
She continued, ‘When you have this level of fame, there is a compromise… cause its a very blessed life… that one of the trade offs… you have to learn to navigate your personal life and my personal life has suffered at times because of that.’
‘And now I realize that you have to change, you have to change your behavior’… if you want to have a successful relationship in your life.’
Stern then asked, ‘Was there ever a time you wanted a guy and didn’t get him?’
Lopez laughed as she replied, ‘There was one guy that I had my eye on… and I kind of threw it out there and he didn’t pick it up. I won’t say his name… but this was… 10 years ago…”
She continued, ‘Yeah, he didn’t respond back and I was just like ‘ok.’ I just kind of moved on. I regret saying this already. I was very subtle so maybe they didn’t pick up the signal.’
The cordialness between Stern and Lopez came as quite a shock as the shock jock has repeatedly targeted her with scathing remarks over the last two decades. He slammed her red carpet outfits, saying her MTV Awards look made her ‘look like a hippo.’
Stern mocked her singing, claiming her rendition of ‘You Belong to Me’ sounded like karaoke and proved she ‘isn’t a great singer.’
He also dismissed her acting and cop show projects as unconvincing. Stern once publicly admitted he ‘can’t stand her’ because she ‘just rubs him the wrong way.’
Howard Stern talks about Oprah Winfrey
Meanwhile, in an interview with Andy Cohen on SiriusXM, Stern also shut down the “Watch What Happens Live” host’s suggestion that Oprah Winfrey, who Stern has previously criticized for showing off her wealth, is one of his enemies.
“No, I love Oprah,” Stern clarified. “I follow Oprah. I enjoy watching Oprah.”
At the same time, Stern doubled down on his previous observation that Winfrey seems “unaware of the way she shows her wealth,” which can seem out of touch.
“I couldn’t do that,” Stern said. “I’m not saying she’s wrong. We all know she’s wealthy. But in the world right now, there is such a disparity between those who have and those who have not, and only getting worse.”
Stern previously slammed Winfrey on his show in 2022, saying it’s “mind-blowing” how she shows off her wealth on Instagram. “You gotta be a little self-aware and know that there are people struggling out there,” he said at the time, as per Business Insider.
