Some celebrities are still stuck in the old-media paradigm. I can’t really fault them for that, but it’s almost always the celebrities who got really famous in the 1990s and early 2000s, and it’s just funny to see them do the same old kind of press tours to promote their projects. Angelina Jolie is like that. George Clooney is like that too. And Jennifer Lopez is like that. J.Lo is promoting The Boy Next Door, and her press tour has been by the book for old-media. She’s been in NYC all week, making the talk show rounds and giving interviews to the entertainment shows, and now she’s on the cover of this week’s People Magazine. It’s an exclusive interview about her personal life, her love life, and she’s hustling so hard for this movie that she allowed People to put her kids on the cover.
Jennifer Lopez is the first to admit she’s had a rough ride when it comes to romance. So after her break-up from Beau “Casper” Smart last spring, she knew it was time to take stock.
“I had to make a commitment to myself to be alone: no flirting. No possibility of anything. No boys in any way, shape of form. I said, ‘I’m shutting it down’,” the star – who produced and stars in the steamy thriller The Boy Next Door (out Friday) – tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “I’d never been alone.”
In a revealing interview at her sprawling home in Los Angeles, the superstar and refreshingly hands-on mother, to 6-year-old twins, Emme and Max, shares what was a sometimes-lonely journey of self-discovery.
“I always found my comfort in another person,” says Lopez, whose divorce from singer Marc Anthony was finalized in June, 2014, three years after their split. “Instead of giving myself time to heal and be on my own, I was so afraid to be that I was always like, ‘Okay somebody else just come in here and help me forget I’m in so much pain.’ ”
Newly empowered after facing her ultimate fear – “I was terrified of being alone” – Lopez is upbeat about the future. “Listen, at the end of the day, love is the best thing,” she says. “But what I’ve discovered is that I can’t get that from somebody else. It’s the love inside me, for myself, that will help me through.”
Currently single, the hard-working star, 45, hasn’t sworn off romance for good.
“I still believe in the fairy tale,” she says. “The more I work on myself, the more I give myself the opportunity to share a really deep and meaningful relationship that can give me my fairy tale and last forever.”
These days, Lopez is “open” to dating but vows to take things slowly.
“I’m not rushing into anything in any way, shape or form,” she says. “And I’m not looking.”
This has been Jennifer’s message throughout her press tour, and it’s fine. I don’t believe her 100%, but I think she’s learning how to be without a boyfriend/husband and there is some backsliding and compromising (like, she still goes out with Casper Smart sometimes). But as I said, it’s fine. I would love for her to wait until she found a really great guy, but I think we’re probably going to have to settle for Jennifer finding a guy with his own job (and a job she hasn’t given him).
Jennifer also appeared on The Daily Show on Tuesday. The interview was cute – everybody loves J.Lo! Her ponytail though… girl, no. She also says kissing George Clooney was “okay.”
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, cover courtesy of People.
Could she be any more desperate? I expect Lopez and Swift to go on a joint media tour at this point.
Ha! she is the original Swifty!
Except she actually manages to get them down the aisle
most of JLos men arent gay though.
Except for Ben Affleck….he dumped Her at the alter, the weekend of the wedding. No matter how it’s spun, that’s one JLO couldn’t get down the aisle.
P.S. JLO is currently putting out a press mating call to Charlie Hunam, I hope he ignores it and runs the other way.
most
No boys? What woman in her 40’s would be interested in a boy? Or is it a marketing word for her movie? Either way she’s tiresome and I won’t be seeing it.
Agree. Also don´like it when women refer to themselves as girls.
I thought that was very telling.
same was said when Taylor Swift refered to men as boys. its weird for a 25 (?) year old but a woman like JLo, what the heck?
Just think if an ‘adult’ man was speaking this way? Then again Bradley Cooper is also dating a child. Equally as creepy.
I agree, she’s tiresome…..I don’t really believe her stories, and I think it’s all about HER and how she can become more relevant and stay in the limelight. Once we forget about her, she loses that, so my feeling is that she will do almost anything to stay relevant, like showing us her ‘Mom side’ on the cover of People….last year, or the year before–wasn’t it ALL about Casper Smart and how she had him by her side just about everywhere? Well, I will ‘never’ forget the one singing/dancing number she did a few years ago–she did a little skit to represent EACH of the men she had once been involved with, WHAT? Yep…..it’s was the silliest act I had ever seen–geez, what was she thinking? Ever since then, I have thought, wow, she is living in a bubble as JLo the princess diva.
“Boys”? Lol- this silly trick.😄
I always think of her as being a bit of a joke, but this re-branding exercise might be working on me!
I’ve always thought that was her problem – rushing into relationships out of fear of being alone, so I hope she really means it and has a maturity growth spurt. She needs one.
the whole “fear of being alone” thing…I’m not sure I’ve ever heard her come right out and say it, so maybe (hopefully!) she’s done some self-discovery. I agree that seemed to be a problem for her.
I actually watched the last half hour of Idol last night, and she has great chemistry with Harry Conick…and he flirts with her something fierce. so, yeah…I’m ‘shipping them.
Oh, and her kids are adorable.
Great idea, JLo, get addicted to coffee instead.
If she’s for real about learning to be alone, then good for her, it’s a been a long time coming.
But I dislike that she’s using her kids to promote her work and sell an image. Those kids are only six, they can’t understand the choice of whether to be on the cover of People or not.
Angeline Jolie and Brad Pitt do full spreads with their kids. They might donate the proceeds, but they are schilling their image as parents getting that promo for their movies, make no mistake about it.
I didn’t mind the cover. She doesn’t make a habit of it, and they are still young. They are in her documentary a few times on the road while touring in her Winnebago on the road, showing her behind the scenes being a mother and what goes on before going on stage. It was cute.
Jayna, you bettah run, gurl. 😉
WORD.
Oh I know, I’ve commented on them doing it as well, and anyone else who does it. I just personally don’t like the idea and wouldn’t do it myself if I were a celebrity. Once a kid is old enough to understand it and be able to make an informed choice, then fine, but until then, I wouldn’t, especially in this day and age.
Maybe if you referred to them as men, I would have hope for your maturity on this subject.
We all know you’ve been sneaking around with Casper, caught out and about with him several times, ducking one time. You can’t be alone still. LOL
I give it a week
The cover looks like Good Housekeeping. Quite a contrast with her glittery skin-tight bootylicious performance photos!
Yeah, weird. It’s either boobs out or kids out. Always some gimmicks.
I love the looks on her dogs’ faces, though. They’re totally over it. 😀
I LOVE the old press tours….I like flipping through magazines, etc. I hate how stuff is so digitized.
But if I was JLo, had JLo’s money..good Lord. You’d be shocked if I had a man with me. I’d be rolling in jewelry, lol. I’d be like Elizabeth Taylor.
That coat looks like something Kate Middleton would wear, but it looks better and more glamorous on J-LO.
Jennifer looks better without all that make-up on. Or she looks better with the more “natural make-up” on the cover.
I am obsessed with that coat. Obsessed.
I think it’s a good rule she’s setting for herself: Now will she follow it? I think she’s said she was going to spend some time alone before.
I love the black coat but her style lately has sucked. She tried too hard
Haha. Good one. On a positive note, her kids are adorable. The little girl looks like her.
Her kids and the dogs are gorgeous.
Did she really say “…shape of form” or was that the journalist’s mistake? Way to make her look intellegent. JLO doesn’t know how to be alone. I give this new found mantra two months – tops.
Max looks so much like Marc Anthony. I wish she wasn’t using her kids to promote her “sexy mom” thriller, though.
If her skin gets any tighter, she’ll have eyes on the side of her head. Shesh.
Wow! I think JLO looks awesome. A few actresses, like Sandra Bullock and JLO, look better now in their 40s than when they were younger.
She looks very pretty, and I consider a life of profitable crime when I look at her clothes. Also, glad to hear she won’t be seeing any more boys. Since that means she’ll have to date MEN.