Jennifer Lopez’s “triumphant” return to music after a 10-year hiatus isn’t panning out quite like the singer planned. After reconnecting with her former paramour Ben Affleck after 20 years of separation, J-Lo surrendered to her passionate romance and swore to tell their her story through the ultimate combination of film and music.
The result is This Is Me… Now: A Love Story ⏤ a chaotic, if not ambitious, visual album chronicling the couple’s journey to love. But the real highlight of the endeavor is the accompaniment of the behind-the-scenes documentary The Greatest Love Story Never Told. Lopez spent a reported $20 million to produce, write, and star in the documentary, which The Daily Beast describes as, “A glowing shrine to narcissism and its many casualties.”
The documentary hashes out their love story and delves into where “Jenny from da block” came from. The only problem? New Yorkers hailing from The Bronx aren’t having it, and TikTok is eating her up.
J-Lo’s Bronx controversy
TikTokers have been having the time of their lives dissecting the documentary, album, and visual accompaniment. Not only does the doc show some truly cringe BTS moments of J-Lo panicking over the few celebrities willing to help out with the project, but it also delves into one of Lopez’s favorite talking points: her childhood in The Bronx.
User Baviddoughy shared the trauma of encountering the singer one day at Holy Family School, the same elementary and middle school that Lopez attended and her mother taught at. He recalled being harassed by her bodyguards while leaving school and even included an article from The New York Post detailing how many children Lopez’s security low-key assaulted and left in tears ⏤ all while Lopez indifferently stood by. Even in 2005, locals felt Lopez’s claim to the block was performative at best.
The TikToker succinctly explained the drama, saying, “When you make it your whole personality that you grew up in the Bronx and you went to this school… or that dance studio and you don’t give no money to these place but it’s your whole personality… It’s kind of weird.”
Other users are giving far less grace when calling the singer out. “J-lo is a delusional chaos demon. I don’t even believe she’s from New York anymore. Leave us alone, please,” one creator cajoled. “At this point the Bloc is the victim.” Another user wrote.
The sentiment was mirrored thousands of times throughout the comments. Users feel that Lopez’s insistence on using “The Block” as the focal point of her personality is disingenuous, considering that the singer has done little to help her former neighborhood. It’s prompted more than one user to claim that “The “Block” is owed some back royalties from her over use of [it].”
Social media has added a layer to stardom that some 2000s celebrities don’t seem to understand, even one like Lopez, who was harangued by paparazzi in her heyday. One user pointed out TikTok’s ability to magnify stories in ways that stars don’t see coming: “This is why I love Social media, ya’ll. You can only fake the funk for so long. Word on the street is that the Bronx doesn’t even f**k with this one.”
Users piled onto Lopez for her frequent callbacks to her upbringing and called out her insistence as an effort to appear more relatable. Creator @photosbyangelita, who has since deactivated her account, posted a video claiming that she and Lopez had attended the same high school and accusing Lopez of lying and using the Bronx to “look human.”
“We are sick of you. You don’t do s**t for us. Stop using us to look human. Stop using us to look relatable. We are not running up and down the Block.” The specific callout relates to a clip from the documentary: After removing her hair tie to reveal mused, unkempt hair, J-lo claims, “It reminds me, like, when I was 16 in the Bronx running up and down the block. That crazy little girl.”
Users were quick to wonder if messy hair was really a sign of an authentic New York style, and even quicker to believe a TikTok claiming that the scene had taken 12 times to properly film (though the video has since been scrubbed). Lopez’s behavior throughout the doc has been criticized for being narcissistic and self-absorbed. One clip shows her goading her best friend, who dislikes working out, into trying it. The friend eventually tries, but Lopez stares disinterestedly into her phone while her assistant helps. It had TikTok users in stitches wondering why on Earth Lopez used such condemning clips. “And this was ON camera, and what she approved! I can only imagine what she is like in private.”
Storytimes galore exploded onto the app in the aftermath, with users sharing their IRL experiences with the diva. “If you’re not in or from New York, you don’t know this, but she is like the biggest B ever,” said @Supergirlreject. A user responded, “I’m not from NY. Everybody knows Jennifer Lopez isn’t nice.” “This is every story I’ve heard about her,” wrote another. At this point, it seems like social media is ready for Lopez to leave everyone, including The Block, alone.
