In a raw moment from her new documentary Halftime, Jennifer Lopez opened up about feeling unloved and “ignored” by her parents during her childhood.
Jennifer Lopez felt ignored by her father
According to Page Six, the singer revealed in the Netflix film, that Lopez “was always looking for somebody to make me feel loved” as a child. Growing up as a “middle child” between two sisters in a modest Bronx household, she felt she “didn’t have enough of a connection” with her father and that her “narcissistic” mother was too self-involved to provide affection.
“I felt very ignored by my dad because he was always working nights, then all day he would sleep and I didn’t feel like I had enough of a connection with him,” Lopez shared. “My mom was narcissistic, center of the attention, life-of-the-party-type person,” she added about her complicated relationship with her parents.
Lopez also hinted at past turbulence with her mother, admitting “She beat the s–t out of us” while trying to make her girls “independent” and self-reliant. After defying her mother’s wish for her to attend college and opting instead to pursue dance full-time, Lopez even endured a period of homelessness where she had to sleep at the studio.
“I was homeless, but I told her, ‘This is what I have to do,'” the singer and actress recalled about that difficult chapter.
Despite past troubles, Lopez seems to have made peace with her parents in more recent years. Just last June, she shared a sweet Father’s Day Instagram post for her dad David, writing “Daddy, I love you” alongside an old photo of them together.
Read More: ‘Devil Wears Prada’ cast reunion at the SAG Awards
Jennifer Lopez’s relationship with her mother
Lopez also previously acknowledged her mother’s complicated past in the 2022 Netflix documentary Halftime, explaining:
“My mom carries a lot of baggage, she wanted us to be independent and never have to rely on a man, She did what she had to do to survive, and it made her strong, but it also made her tough.”
While Lopez understandably still grapples with the hurt of feeling overlooked as a child, viewers were moved by her honesty in opening up old wounds. Fans of the multi-talented star were also uplifted to see how she transformed past adversity into drive and determination later in her groundbreaking career.
Read More: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Sequel Announced for 2026
Lopez is now thriving both personally and professionally. After rekindling her romance with Ben Affleck, the two tied the knot in an intimate Las Vegas ceremony last July. She also continues to break barriers across music, film, television, and business as a multi-faceted mega-star.
Stream the full Halftime documentary now on Netflix.
Follow for more updates.
