Jennifer Lopez was asked late last week what she thought about those who felt her performance at the Super Bowl LIV was too racy, and her response was laughter.
Dismissing those who disagreed as a “small faction” of people, she told Variety that it’s “silliness” to call it inappropriate while adding both she and Shakira are “really respectful performers who are moms, have kids, who are very conscious of what we do.”
Lopez didn’t outline her definition of respectful nor explain how her skimpy outfit and pole dancing fit into those parameters.
“We did a show that I believe was a celebration of women and our Latino culture that was really well received,” the star added. “That small faction of people that wanna be negative about it not something I can even let in because it was such an amazing night, so many beautiful things came out of it.”
Lopez went on to explain some of the messages and themes the program allegedly portrayed:
“The message of standing up for yourself, being a woman. That’s what I want to pass on to the little girls. You’re strong, you’re beautiful. Everything about you. Be proud of it. And I’m very proud of the performance.”
It’s interesting that Lopez doesn’t really explain why hor how the performance conveys any of those messages, as most people watching reacted with the understanding that this was a highly sexualized performance. NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo tweeted that watching almost got him in trouble:
I wrote about the halftime show myself after watching a portion of it with my teenage daughter.
We’ll add any further explanation Lopez might add to how, exactly, this performance was empowering to young girls, but for now she appears to be simply dismissing them as “silliness.”