Jennifer Lopez Revealed She's Been "Manhandled" in Relationships

May 2024 ยท 3 minute read

Now that fans have had time to soak up Jennifer Lopez's new album, This Is Me ... Now, and its accompanying music film extravaganza, she's giving everyone a peek behind the curtain in Prime Video's The Greatest Love Story Never Told, which follows the making of the movie. During one scene, where she discusses the video component for the track "Rebound," Lopez opened up about past relationships and how she experienced being "manhandled" in addition to "other unsavory" and "disrespectful" situations. While she didn't call out anyone in particular, the statement is a clear indication that she's experienced domestic violence and toxic relationships. The dynamic is reflected in her film, where she dances with a partner in a glass house.

"Being thrown around and manhandled like that is not fun," Lopez says. "I was never in a relationship where I got beat up, thank God, but I've definitely been manhandled and a couple of other unsavory things ... rough ... disrespectful."

"I'm glad that one's behind us," Lopez says after finishing the segment.

Lopez continues to explain her feelings about the sequence, saying that it was emotional for her to reflect on her past.

"More than anything, it's really a vulnerable place to be in every day. That's why I go to work every day, and I'm like, 'What am I doing?'" Lopez says to her producing partner, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas.

"It's a personal journey ... that will relate to so many women who are abused," Goldsmith-Thomas says. "You're talking about how we accept less than we deserve."

ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

Lopez speaks about her past relationships throughout the documentary, even saying that she felt like she had "hit rock bottom" with her "complicated" feelings, comparing her past with "looking through fog." Of course, these days, Lopez is happily married to Ben Affleck after the two famously reconciled after their initial engagement and breakup in the '00s. 

"There were people in my life who said, 'I loved you,' and then didn't do things that were kind of in line with the word love," Lopez said in the documentary. "You have to hit rock bottom, where you're in situations that are so uncomfortable and so painful that you finally go, 'I don't want this anymore.' A therapist said to me, 'What if this was your daughter? What would you do?' And it was so clear. I was like, I'd tell her, 'Get the fuck out of here, never look back.' But for me, it was so clouded and so complicated with so much of my past and my own pain and hurt and dysfunction that I couldn't see clearly. It was like looking through fog."

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

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