Jennifer Lopez's career desperately needs the kiss of life. But this wasn't it
One kiss was all it took to put Jennifer Lopez back in the spotlight during her appearance at the American Music Awards in Las Vegas this week. The singer and actor, 55, kicked off her hosting duties of the event at the Fontainebleau hotel with a raunchy routine where she locked lips with her female backing dancer – a girl-on-girl moment surely calculated to provoke a reaction similar to that whipped up by Britney Spears and Madonna when they canoodled at the MTV VMAs in 2003.
The difference, of course, is that 22 years ago, Britney and Madge didn't need the attention. But with Lopez, the feeling is that she very much does. If that means a cheesy girl-on-girl snog while dancing to a medley of recent pop hits by other artists – as she did at the AMAs – so be it.
If she is desperate, who could blame her? Lopez came to the AMAs – America's glitzier answer to the Brits– on the back of the most horrible annus horribilis in recent celebrity history. True, it wasn't quite as awful as that experienced by Katy Perry, whose 2024 comeback album, 143, only peaked at number six in the charts and was torn apart by critics. She was then widely mocked for her trip on Jeff Bezos's vanity rocket, Blue Origin, and her high-concept new tour, which features dancers dressed as aliens and the 13-time Grammy nominee body-popping like someone desperately needing the loo.
But she at least had the opportunity to share her new songs with the world – a privilege denied Lopez, whose This Is Me…Now Tour was cancelled a month out amid underwhelming ticket sales across the US and after the album of the same name had stiffed at 38 in the US charts (before sinking entirely within the fortnight)
Lopez flopped further with the accompanying movie, This Is Me… Now: A Love Story. Here was a $20 million Prime Video folly paid for out of her own pocket and featuring celebrity cameos from Jane Fonda and Post Malone (but not Taylor Swift, who wisely declined to be involved).
Seemingly inspired by steam-punk science fiction and Puerto Rican mythology, this 'fictional narrative' retold the story of her on/off/relationship with Ben Affleck – with whom she had reconnected (and married) after 20 years apart following a cancelled engagement. There were lots of arresting images – such as a scene in which workers danced around a giant, engine-like representation of J-Lo's heart, which, in the story, has broken down following her separation from Affleck.
As cinema, This Is Me Now was divisive, panned as an indecipherable muddle while also praised, by our own film critic, as 'an astonishing pop-art tour de force'. Regardless Lopez had to be credited for taking a risk and putting herself out there. Alas, the movie would be out of date almost as soon as it was released, with Lopez filing for divorce after two years of marriage.
The strain of their marriage is obvious in the third big project that Lopez put out in 2024 – the documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, which, coming on the heels of the album and tie-in movie, served as sort of a spin-off of a spin-off.
Displaying an admirable disregard for brand management, it is a striking portrait of an artist deep in a career funk and with a husband less than enthusiastic about sharing their private life with the world. At one point, a flabbergasted Affleck even questions the name of the project. 'It's the greatest love story never told,' he points out to his soon-to-be ex-wife. 'And if you're making a record about it, that seems kind of like telling it.'
No breakup is easy, but this one had come at an especially awkward time. Not only did her decision to file for divorce in August slap an instant best-before date on the entire This Is Me… Now project. It also cast a shadow over Lopez's latest movie, Unstoppable, a biopic about one-legged champion wrestler Anthony Robles, in which Lopez plays his supportive mother, Judy, and which was co-produced by one Ben Affleck.
Lopez is every bit as accomplished an actor as singer – and was regarded as unfortunate not to receive a Best Supporting Actress nomination for 2019 comedy-drama Hustlers, in which she played a stripper who turns to robbery to supplement her income. But Unstoppable, which came out last December, was met with lukewarm reviews and bombed at the box office before dropping out of UK cinemas after just one week.
Amid these and other disappointments – her 2024 Netflix sci-fi movie Atlas was also panned by critics despite doing well on Netflix – one thing lacking from her downfall is schadenfreude. While few may want to go to her concerts, nobody is actively wishing for her downfall, despite Lopez's reputation as a diva.
In her early years of fame, tabloids gleefully reported a list of backstage demands that included 'all white' dressing rooms decorated with white lilies or roses and a room temperature consistent at 26 degrees.
But she nowadays comes across as far more self-aware – in The Greatest Love Story Never Told she openly admits that the world is not breathlessly awaiting a new Jennifer Lopez album. And so, when her tour was cancelled, it is tempting to imagine her reaction was one of weary resignation rather than shock. Similarly, on stage at the AMA Awards, she seemed in on the joke, putting in a performance almost Eurovision in its silliness (the girl-on-girl kiss was soundtracked by, of all things, Teddy Swims's party anthem Lose Control).
If the AMA snog-athon – she also kissed one of her male dancers – is rock bottom, then there are indications that the clouds may soon begin to part. She and Affleck finally shifted their $60 million Beverly Hills mansion, though with a write-off of $8 million after it initially failed to sell. It was speculated that news of their divorce had led prospective buyers to hold off, knowing the couple were probably eager for a deal.
Plus, critical acclaim may belatedly arrive this October with Kiss of the Spider Woman. A nightmarish art-house musical by Twilight director Bill Condon, it features J-Lo as a silent movie star as hallucinated by a prisoner of the Argentine Junta (Diego Luna). Advance buzz is strong and it's exactly the sort of project she requires at this point: adventurous, edgy and demanding. She – and the many cheering her on – will hope that the film will deliver the kiss of life she so desperately needs.
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The Guardian
17 minutes ago
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'We brought in some actors who we thought would work, but many of them just weren't strong enough,' Dilley told Star Wars Insider magazine. Eventually, Kenny Baker auditioned and fitted the role – and the prop. Dilley was also responsible for the colour and detail of Luke Skywalker's hovering landspeeder anti-gravity craft, conceived by McQuarrie and the modelmaker Colin Cantwell, and for R2-D2's humanoid robot friend C-3PO, whom McQuarrie based on the female robot from Fritz Lang's 1927 silent classic Metropolis. After working on Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Dilley won his second Oscar for the first Indiana Jones film, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Harrison Ford as the globetrotting archaeologist. For the making of one of its best known scenes – Jones fleeing from a South American cave temple with a giant boulder tumbling at his heels – Dilley's work on set even extended to physical exertion. 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Dilley was born in Pontygwaith, Mid Glamorgan, during the second world war, and grew up in Wembley Park after his parents, Leslie, a chauffeur, and Doreen (nee Willis), returned to their home in Middlesex in 1946. From the age of 15, he studied architecture and building construction at Willesden technical college while on a plastering apprenticeship at the Associated British Picture Corporation. He did plaster work on the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love and worked his way up to become assistant art director on Kelly's Heroes (1970), The Devils, Macbeth, and The Boy Friend (all 1971) and Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), and an art department draughtsman on another 007 movie, The Man with the Golden Gun (1974). 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BBC News
26 minutes ago
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It's Musk's last day - what has he achieved at the White House?
Elon Musk's time in the Trump administration is coming to an end after a tempestuous 129 days in which the world's richest man took an axe to government spending - stirring ample controversy along the way. Earlier this week, the South African-born billionaire, on his social media platform, X, thanked President Trump for his time at the Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge. Trump announced he will host a news conference in the Oval Office on Friday with Musk, writing: "This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way." While Musk's time in government lasted little more than four months, his work with Doge upended the federal government and had an impact not just in the halls of power in Washington - but around the world. Let's take a look at some of the ways Musk has left a mark. Doge's chainsaw to federal spending Musk took a job with the Trump White House with one mission: to cut spending from the government as much as possible. He began with an initial target of "at least $2 trillion", which then shifted to $1tn and ultimately $150bn. To date, Doge claims to have saved $175bn through a combination of asset sales, lease and grant cancellations, "fraud and improper payment deletion", regulatory savings and a 260,000-person reduction from the 2.3 million-strong federal workforce. A BBC analysis of those figures, however, found that evidence is sometimes lacking. This mission has at times caused both chaos and controversy, including some instances in which federal judges halted mass firings and ordered employees reinstated. In other instances, the administration has been forced to backtrack on firings. In one notable instance in February, the administration stopped the firing of hundreds of federal employees working at the National Nuclear Security Administration, including some with sensitive jobs related to the US nuclear arsenal. Musk himself repeatedly acknowledged that mass firings would inevitably include mistakes. "We will make mistakes," he said in February, after his department mistook a region of Mozambique for Hamas-controlled Gaza while cutting an aid programme. "But we'll act quickly to correct any mistakes." Doge's efforts to access data also garnered controversy, particularly the department's push for access to sensitive treasury department systems that control the private information of millions of Americans. Polls show that cuts to government spending remain popular with many Americans - even if Musk's personal popularity has waned. Blurred lines between business and politics The presence of Musk - an unelected "special government employee" with companies that count the US government as customers - in Trump's White House has also raised eyebrows, prompting questions about potential conflicts of interest. His corporate empire includes large companies that do business with US and foreign governments. SpaceX has $22 billion in US government contracts, according to the company's chief executive. Some Democrats also accused Musk of taking advantage of his position to drum up business abroad for his satellite internet services firm, Starlink. The White House was accused of helping Musk's businesses by showcasing vehicles made by Tesla - his embattled car company - on the White House lawn in March. Musk and Trump have both shrugged off any suggestion that his work with the government is conflicted or ethically problematic. A nudge for US isolationism? Around the world, Musk's work with Doge was most felt after the vast majority - over 80% - of the US Agency for International Development's (USAID's) programmes were eliminated following a six-week review by Doge. The rest were absorbed by the State Department. The Musk and Doge-led cuts formed part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to bring overseas spending closer in line with its "America First" approach. The cuts to the agency - tasked with work such as famine detection, vaccinations and food aid in conflict areas - quickly had an impact on projects including communal kitchens in war-torn Sudan, scholarships for young Afghan women who fled the Taliban and clinics for transgender people in India. USAID also was a crucial instrument of US "soft power" around the world, leading some detractors pointing to its elimination as a sign of waning American influence on the global stage. Conspiracies and misinformation While Musk - and Trump - have for years been accused by detractors of spreading baseless conspiracy theories, Musk's presence in the White House starkly highlighted how misinformation has crept into discourse at the highest levels of the US government. For example, Musk spread an unfounded internet theory that US gold reserves had quietly been stolen from Fort Knox in Kentucky. At one point, he floated the idea of livestreaming a visit there to ensure the gold was secured. Fact-checking Trump's Oval Office confrontation with Ramaphosa More recently, Musk spread widely discredited rumours that the white Afrikaner population of South Africa is facing "genocide" in their home country. Those rumours found their way into the Oval Office earlier in May, when a meeting aimed at soothing tensions between the US and South Africa took a drastic twist after Trump presented South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with videos and articles he said were evidence of crimes against Afrikaners. Revealed divisions inside Trump's camp Musk's work in government also showed that, despite public pledges of unity, there are tensions within the "Trump 2.0" administration. While Trump publicly - and repeatedly - backed the work of Musk and Doge, Musk's tenure was marked by reports of tension between him and members of the cabinet who felt Doge cuts were impacting their agencies. "They have a lot of respect for Elon and that he's doing this, and some disagree a little bit," Trump acknowledged in a February cabinet meeting. "If they aren't, I want them to speak up." At one point, he was asked whether any cabinet members had expressed dissatisfaction with Musk and turned to the room to ask them. No one spoke. The announcement of Musk's departure also came the same day that CBS - the BBC's US partner - publicised part of an interview during which Musk said he was "disappointed" by Trump's "big, beautiful" budget bill. The bill includes multi-trillion dollar tax breaks and a pledge to increase defence spending. Musk said the bill "undermines" the work of Doge to cut spending - reflecting larger tensions within the Republican Party over the path forward.
