Jennifer Lopez has a lot to share in her new Netflix documentary Halftime. The film looks closely at some of the highlights of JLo’s career, including her preparation and performance for the Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show in 2020.
During the documentary, which had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival on Wednesday (June 8), there is a scene where the “Pa Ti” singer is talking with her music director and stressing over how much time she would have to perform at halftime. Lopez co-headlined the show with fellow artist Shakira.
“We have six f—ing minutes,” Lopez said in the doc. “We have 30 seconds of a song, and if we take a minute, that’s it; we’ve got five left. But there’s got to be certain songs that we sing, though. We have to have our singing moments. It’s not going to be a dance f—ing revue. We have to sing our message. This is the worst idea in the world to have two people do the Super Bowl. It was the worst idea in the world.”
Earlier in the documentary, Lopez talks with Shakira and responds to her when she says that no one from the NFL has confirmed how much time she will have on stage. “Let me address that really quick,” Lopez said. “They said 12 minutes. I got kind of a good confirmation that we could have an extra minute or two, so now we’re at, like, 13, 14 minutes. I think, Shakira, what we should have is you should have half the time, and I should [have half].”
JLo adds: “If it was going to be a double-headliner, they should have given us 20 minutes. That’s what they should’ve f—ing done.”
Lopez’s manager Benny Medina was also not happy that the NFL booked two superstars for one show. “Typically, you have one headliner at a Super Bowl,” he said. “That headliner constructs a show, and should they choose to have other guests, that’s their choice. It was an insult to say you needed two Latinas to do the job that one artist historically has done.”
Lopez has been receiving criticism for her comments, with many people feeling it was unwarranted, especially since Shakira nor her team has made similar comments. Others defended the singer, stressing that the statements were taken out of context and that the core message was that they should’ve received more time together as two acts.
JLo’s doc Halftime premieres on Netflix on June 14.