Jennifer Lopez hates the ‘cougar’ label: ‘I’m not after younger guys’

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Last week, we heard that Jennifer Lopez might be dating/hooking up with her younger costar, Ryan Guzman. Guzman is 27 years old, but he’s playing a 17-year-old or an 18-year-old in The Boy Next Door. The film is about J.Lo and Guzman’s characters hooking up and then he goes all psycho on her and so it’s being sold as a sexy thriller, I guess. I’ll admit that if Jennifer does date another younger guy, I hope she goes for someone pretty like Guzman and not… you know, like Casper Smart. Anyway, the whole “dating a younger guy” has come up a lot during J.Lo’s interviews, and she’s been deflecting pretty well. It honestly seems like “Don’t Call Me Cougar” is her signature issue these days. Jennifer talked about the cougar thing again with Ellen DeGeneres yesterday (you can see the video here).

Jennifer Lopez isn’t on the prowl. The actress, 45, was falsely linked to her Boy Next Door co-star Ryan Guzman, 27, after appearing at the Golden Globes together. Lopez denied the romance rumors to Ryan Seacrest last week, and on Tuesday, she reassured Ellen DeGeneres that there’s nothing going on with Guzman. “He’s so fun. He’s a real sweet. He’s a gentleman,” the movie star said. “We are doing all this promo together for the movie.”

“So, there’s nothing going on?” DeGeneres asked.

“No, no, no,” Lopez vowed. “We arrived separately, but then later we went to the parties together. We had some fun… and it was good.”

DeGeneres asked if Guzman has a girlfriend, to which Lopez replied, “I think he might. I’m not sure. I know he did.” After the audience laughed, the actress asked, “What? I’m not in his business like that.”

“Not yet,” the host quipped.

“You never know,” Lopez joked as shirtless photos of Guzman appeared on the screen behind her.

“What the heck?” she asked. “What’s going on around here?”

On a more serious note, Lopez finds the term “cougar” is sexist and takes offense when it’s linked to her name. “I hate that they have a label for a woman who would date a younger guy,” she said. “If a younger guy is interested in you, what’s the big deal? What’s the word for the man who’s after younger girls?”

Though she’s older than a few exes, like Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Casper Smart, that just coincidental. “I’m not after younger guys. If younger guys like me, then that’s one thing. But there’s like guys who just go after younger woman. They have no name. No label,” she said. “And you can date one person. Label. There’s just a little bit of an imbalance there. Not fair.”

[From E! News]

Jennifer is like the Martin Luther King Jr. of cougaring. She will fight for our civil right to cougar, y’all. I have a dream that we will not be labeled for drooling over young hot pieces. And you know what? We do have a name for men who date much-younger partners: gross. We used “gross” in posts about Anthony Kiedis, Stephen Fry, Steven Bauer and more. Besides, I never really cared that Casper Smart was YOUNGER than Jennifer. I cared that he was broke, barely employable, likely gay and not in the least bit attractive. If you’re going to go for a young piece, please make him hot.

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Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet, Pacific Coast News.

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61 Responses to “Jennifer Lopez hates the ‘cougar’ label: ‘I’m not after younger guys’”

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  1. V4Real says:

    I’m not after younger guys; they’re after me. You tell’em JLo!

    • anon says:

      And she is right, lol.

    • Someonestolemyname says:

      She seems defensive about dating younger dudes.

      • perplexed says:

        Older women get questioned on it in a way that older guys don’t, so if there is defensiveness I think it’s understandable.

        Susan Sarandon got asked about dating a younger guy when she was with Tim Robbins whereas I don’t think anybody really seems to ask Johnny Depp why he’s dating Amber Heard. Granted, Johnny Depp looks young, but so does J-Lo.

  2. Amy Tennant says:

    Word for man who goes after younger women = “man”

    (Yes, I know “not all men,” but I guess I’m snarky today)

  3. aims says:

    She’s an equal opportunity dater. Girlfriend doesn’t like being alone.

    • Someonestolemyname says:

      True dat.

    • Kimberly says:

      LOL………..it’s funny the way you wrote it but so true about her.

      It’s like she isn’t secure about herself at all.
      She just can’t be alone for a certain amount of time. which is sad in her case.

      • Kosmos says:

        Yes, it’s obvious she just wants men who will fawn over her. I don’t think she has enough smarts to be with a man she can’t order around. She and Mark Anthony had already been friends for years, but I feel she went for him only because of the upset with Ben Affleck. She has to feel constantly desired, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she has to be the boss in every relationship. She certainly has a rep for ordering people around.

  4. MARKWEER says:

    Yes she is. She needs to own this. Cher did

  5. paola says:

    She has just admitted that her ‘pop voice’ wouldn’t have seen her succeed on American Idol.
    I like her honesty.. I like her more and more (apart from when she wears fur) and she’s always smiling, seems super professional and nice with her fans.
    I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody saying anything nasty about her or behind her back. Not even her storical partners.
    She’s a self made woman.. if she has younger men than good for her. She looks half her age so I don’t see the problem. the fact Stephen Fry married someone who could pass for his grandson grosses me out a lot more.
    I still hope Jennifer would start a fling with David Gandy. They’re really hot together.

    • Aurora says:

      I’ve heard plenty of nasty about this woman. She of the kajillion petty performance riders, she who demands that the end credits on a movie be pulled so that she can be credited as “J.Lo” and then puts out a song claiming to be “from the block”. Of course she admits she cant sing, what tone deaf fool thinks that nasally voice with no range whatsoever is beautiful? Her music career was built off of her celebrity and that in turn was built off of being a seemingly “white” woman with a black girls booty and her famous boyfriends.

      • Kosmos says:

        She is NOT a talented singer. Maybe you’re right, her singing career was built off of her celebrity image, because it sure couldn’t have been built from real talent!! And right, too….she is definitely a demanding person and has a reputation for being so.

    • lucy2 says:

      I wouldn’t say that I like her (she seems high maintenance to me) but I have to admire her work ethic. I don’t find her to be extremely talented (which to her credit she seems to get) but she has built a really successful empire on many platforms.
      She does look way younger than she is. And it’s nice to see her finally being single for a while.

  6. Little Darling says:

    She’s just after guys, I agree she likes a partner all of the time. Her history of men is like skittles, she definitely tastes the rainbow!!

    Maybe her next man will be a little person and she can hide him under those pants!

  7. scout says:

    Those Palazzo shiny pants!!
    Better off being a fabulous cougar, you are getting there girl. Nothing wrong with it at all. Didn’t work with Marc Anthony who was richer and older, did it?

  8. micki says:

    My Mum said a younger guy keeps you longer young.
    I listened.
    I married one.
    So far it works.

  9. kri says:

    She has a point about the cougar thing. We don’t call men any stupid name like that. Maybe we should. How bout “toothless old lions” or something. I mean, Johnny Depp isn’t cougaring…he’s ghost of Mufasa-ing. Most guys want someone younger in H’wood…that’s a fact.

    • Abbott says:

      And he’s clinging to his youth like Mufasa on that cliff. Too soon for Mufasa jokes?

    • Mmhmm says:

      Ever heard of a ‘sugar daddy’? But I do see your point. At the same time, I despise her new movie. I think it displays men and women in a stupid way. She goes after a young guy, then she becomes a victim and he becomes the enemy or something like that. I don’t know, but it just looks gross to me.

      • perplexed says:

        In the movie it looks like the young guy goes after the older woman and she succumbs. Then he goes nuts. Kind of looks like Alicia Silverstone’s Crush, but with the genders reversed (although I can’t remember if the guy actually gave into Alicia Silverstone’s character. I just remember the character being a nutcase, and that seems to be the case here too with the male character.) Anyway, this movie looks like it belongs on Lifetime, not in the theatre.

  10. j.eyre says:

    Well then I think its high time we came up with a term for men who go after younger women. I am offering the first suggestion: Wombat. A wombat shares no characteristics with men who pursue younger women and the relevance of the afore mentioned men and wombats is shaky at best, but my gawd is it fun to say:

    “Ugh, he has always been a wombat!”

    Well, that and they are part of the Vombatidae family, so there is that connection.

    • paola says:

      I encountered a wombat while bush walking in Australia and let me tell you that the wombat is one of the cutest, adorable and cuddly animals i’ve ever seen in my life! ( my second is the echidna and the hedgehog. you can’t cuddle them but they’re so damn cute)
      Doesn’t go well trying to describe a gross, shallow, creepy guy who chases younger girls.
      The most fitting name would be RAT.
      I’ll prove it to you:

      “Ugh, he has always been a rat!”

      See? It works.

  11. nicegirl says:

    Those shiny pale pink pants are EVERYTHING. WOW.

  12. cmag says:

    What’s up with that “fancy pyjama” look in the last pic? Lol. Girlfriend no.

  13. MonicaQ says:

    We could go with the non-gendered “Cradle Robber”.

  14. Elise says:

    That Guzman kid is dating the girl from MTV’s Girl Code. Her name’s Melanie Iglesias.

  15. mernymerlyn says:

    She dated one younger guy. One.
    That has not been her norm at all. Even if she dates 2 or 3 that has not been her norm.
    So I don’t understand what the big deal is.

    • perplexed says:

      Yeah, I don’t really think of her as having a preference for younger men. If Ben Affleck were still single, I think she’d choose him over a guy in his 20s.

  16. obsidian says:

    She’s not a cougar, she’s a vampire. Who the heck looks like that at 45? No wonder younger guys are “after” her.

  17. Mark says:

    ‘I cared that he was broke, barely employable, likely gay and not in the least bit attractive’

    Imagine if a guy wrote that about a woman? You’d be freaking out. Also what should she only go out with men who are in the same tax bracket?

  18. MinnFinn says:

    Words & phrases that should be banned starting right now b/c they demean women and b/c there are no equivalent concepts for men.

    cougar
    baby bump watch
    biological time clock
    who are you wearing
    retail therapy
    cleansing diet/fast

    • laura in LA says:

      I sanction this list.

      As for the last one, my nearby Whole Foods in Weho (yeah, the one w/all the celeb sightings) has not one but two “master cleanse” setups, and though one is totally serious, the other is presumably in jest – lemons w/vodka.

      Oh, how I love LA.

  19. perplexed says:

    Because of how youthful she looks (and will probably continue to look) I can believe younger guys are after her more than I can believe young women chased Jack Nicholson even when he was in his 40s. So I did find her answer amusing on that one.

  20. jammypants says:

    Men get called wolves. I’m sure it applies to all ages. These have less negative connotations to cougar however.

  21. snowflake says:

    I hate the cougar label too. Men don’t have a nickname for dating younger women. I can totally understand why women date younger men now. When I was in my early 30s and trying to date, men my age wanted women in their 20s. Made me feel bad because at the same time, I was starting to see signs of aging and kinda freaking out. I had to go to older men to get a date. Then I felt bad for women their age because I felt like I was taking a potential partner from them.

    I agree with Stevie Nicks when she says men her age want 20 year olds. Men think they’re hot s*it even when they look like crap. But women can be gorgeous and think they look like s*it. So men feel they deserve a young, good looking woman even they’re older, especially if they have money. They’re superficial so they don’t mind some young broad dating them for their money, they’re just looking for a hot piece of you know what. But anyway, so I’ve had women friends who date younger men. But in their cases, they fall in love with them even when it’s obvious the guy is just looking for a fling. Most women can’t separate the sex from feelings. I know a lot of you don’t feel that way, but in my experience, it’s true.

    A lot of people posted that most of the people they know aren’t looking for younger partners, but I think it depends on where you live and the circles you run in. I moved from a beach area and it was hard to find a man looking for a relationship. What with spring breakers, tourists every summer, motorcyle rallies, there were plenty of temporary partners for the men to hook up with. And the successful men who lived there would not have a shortage of women. Most of my single women friends would go to the upper class restaurants and bars to try and find a successful man. The men would hook up with them, take them out to nice restaurants and bars, have sex with them, until they were ready for a new plaything. In the meantime, when the women didn’t have a well-to-do man to take them around, they would hook up with younger men.

    but i can see why JLo would date younger men. They have more flexibility, so they can follow her around. She’s used to being in charge and that’s harder to do with a man with equal money/success. They would both be fighting to be the dominant one. And it’s not like she needs a guy who makes good money. Go JLo! Go JLo! but personally, I think she falls in love with them. I think Madonna knows how to work the “cougar” angle. She plays with the young ones until she’s tired of them and lets them go. She doesn’t fall in love with them like a lot of women trying to do the cougar thing. That’s the main mistake I see women who date younger men do. If you know he’s not in it for a relationship, don’t get your heart involved. If you can’t do that, look for a relationship, because you’re not a fling/cougar kind of girl.

    • Mmhmm says:

      ‘Men don’t have a nickname…’ Sugar daddy, wolves, women hunters. I’ve heard plenty (and they’re fitting in many cases, don’t get me wrong). Also, many older married women go crazy over twilight, magic mike, 50 shades, etc. but if men did that for a movie……

      • perplexed says:

        I think you get called a sugar daddy only if you’re completely vile like Hugh Hefner, and the age difference is 40 years. But I don’t think someone like Johnny Depp would be saddled with that term. Whereas the cougar term seems to apply to every woman who goes younger (even someone like 25 year old Taylor Swift who is young herself and might date a little younger and within her age range — ie. 5 year age difference at the most).

  22. snowflake says:

    JLo is someone I would want beauty tips from. Like her plastic surgeon/dermatologist’s number, her workout routine, etc. She looks great, no snark, but c’mon we know she’s had nips/tucks/filler/botox. she just doesn’t overdo it. well done, JLo

    • mernymerlyn says:

      I watched Out of Sight recently and her facial gestures you could see wrinkles on her forehead, nothing crazy. Just a natural face.
      Compare that to Shall We Dance and no forehead wrinkles.
      I think she’s found a good balance now and I agree she looks amazing.

  23. Josefa says:

    There’s no male equivalent of cougar in English? That’s weird. Here we call them “viejos verdes” (green old men). Being honest now – I’d much rather be called a feline than that.

  24. JenniferJustice says:

    I must be alone in this, but I don’t think it’s wise or healthy enter into relationships with an age gap where one is old enough to be the other’s parent – not men or women. I don’t know what happened with Marc Anthony, but my take is she is playing it safe. In her relationship(s) since Anthony, she is the one with all the power and so, less likely to get hurt. That is not healthy. That is settling. And, yes, I’m sure some younger guys are interested in her, but to act like it’s all them and she’s just some innocent is silly. It takes two. She does go after younger men. JLo is shallow and egotistical. That flies better with younger people because most of us grow out of the need to look good at all times, and the idea that the world revolves around us. With younger guys, they still might think like that, so they don’t consider her vapid or self-centered.

    As far as older men getting with much younger women, we’ve always called them cradle-robbers and wolves. We consider them to be predatory and creepy. I don’t see it any different for women who do the same. If my son had a relationship with a women my age, I would have a big problem with it…huge.

    • anon says:

      Yes, 20+ age difference is too much. But in case of JLo and other women called “cougars” the difference is usually about 10 years. When it is in reverse, and a man is 10 years older nobody even bats an eye. Many people actually think it is a good thing .

      • perplexed says:

        Yeah, Taylor Swift was called a cougar for dating Harry Styles. She’s a youthful 25, and I think she’s only 4 years older than him.

        Selena Gomez was seen as robbing the cradle for dating Justin Bieber who is only 2 years younger than her (or possibly sightly less than that).

        Meanwhile I think you have to be as old as Anna Nicole Smith’s ex-husband (100+) and married to a 25 year old to actually get the term sugar daddy applied to you. Even someone as gross as Donald Trump doesn’t really get called a sugar daddy, even though I have a hard time believing that his younger wife is with him for his personality.

  25. Ann says:

    Just read on twitter that she supposedly said she wants to be seduced by Charlie Hunnam. He’s 34.

  26. serena says:

    Yeah, sure. Ahahahahahah.

    As for guys who go after much younger girls I call them different names, but yeah, gross is the #1 along with patethic.

  27. anon says:

    I agree “cougar” term is sexist. If it is Ok for men to date younger, it is OK for women.

  28. notlistening says:

    She´s right, tho.