Jennifer Lopez Says She’s Been ‘Lightning Rod’ for Negativity Since Start of Career

Jennifer Lopez is sharing how her approach to fame and attention has changed over the course of her career.

The Kiss of the Spider Woman star joined Gwyneth Paltrow, Emily Blunt, Tessa Thompson, Elle Fanning and Sydney Sweeney for the Los Angeles Times’ The Envelope 2025 Oscar Actresses Roundtable, published Tuesday, Dec. 16.

At one point in the wide-ranging conversation, the group was asked how they “push the negative stuff about you or your personal life aside and focus on your work?”

Christy actress Sweeney, 28, said it’s all “just outside noise,” explaining, “When we walk on set, the world kind of disappears and we come to life in a different kind of way. Those are the moments and the relationships that matter. Everything else is just people we don’t know.”

Paltrow, 53, who returns to acting with Marty Supreme, turned to Lopez, 56, and said, “I want to hear your answer to this question.”

Responded Lopez, “From the very beginning, for whatever reason, I’ve been a lightning rod for nice things and a lot of negativity. And it’s hard because you say to yourself, ‘These people don’t get me. They don’t see me. They don’t understand me.’ Then all of a sudden they do. And then they don’t again.”

“Even from when I was very young,” she continued, “I would always say, ‘I know who I am. I’m a good person. I know what I’m doing. People wouldn’t hire me if I wasn’t good at what I do.’ I was always affirming myself and keeping my feet on the ground.”

Lopez credited her parents for instilling her with a strong “sense of self” growing up.

“And what Sydney was saying, I’d have to block out the noise so I can put my head on the pillow at night and go, ‘I did good today. I was a good person. I was kind to people. I worked really hard. I’m a good mom,’ ” added Lopez, who has 17-year-old twins Max and Emme. “That has always helped me through.”

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Hedda actress Thompson, 42, said on the topic, “Not having your sense of self or identity entangled in this other self that belongs to the public seems like such a healthy thing. I’m still trying to figure out my balance with that.”

While on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show in October, Lopez spoke about fame and how it affects her personal life.

“The truth is when you’re in this type of career and you have the type of level of fame that we’re talking about, there is a compromise,” she said at the time. “There are adjustments that you do need to make, because it is a very blessed life.”

“I love what I do and I appreciate my fans and I appreciate the position that I have and I appreciate the opportunities I continue to get. But at the end of the day, there is a tradeoff in certain ways,” Lopez said. “And that’s one of the tradeoffs, is that you have to learn how to navigate your personal life, and my personal life has suffered at times because of that.”

“Now, I have learned that — and it took time for me to learn it. I kept thinking ‘No, I can be this. I can do this.’ And now I’ve realized that, no, you have to change. You have to change your behavior if you want to have a successful relationship in your life, and that was part of it.”