After a summer marked by personal and professional challenges, Jennifer Lopez is bouncing back with some new wisdom.
Speaking to Interview magazine in a story published Wednesday, the pop icon acknowledged that her “whole fucking world exploded” in recent months ― seemingly alluding to the demise of her marriage to Ben Affleck and the cancelation of her concert tour amid sluggish sales of her latest album, “This Is Me… Now.”
Lopez didn’t mention Affleck by name at any point in her chat with comedian Nikki Glaser. But she made it clear she’s looking to the future with optimism.
“You have to be good on your own. I thought I learned that, but I didn’t,” she explained. “And then, this summer, I had to be like, ‘I need to go off and be on my own. I want to prove to myself that I can do that.’”
She went on to note: “Being in a relationship doesn’t define me. I can’t be looking for happiness in other people. I have to have happiness within myself. I used to say I’m a happy person, but was still looking for something for somebody else to fill, and it’s just like, ‘No, I’m actually good.’”
Elsewhere in the interview, Lopez dismissed Glaser’s suggestion that her “bar” will be higher for her next relationship.
“Here’s the thing: There’s no new bar because I’m not looking for anybody,” she said. “How’s that?”
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Following months of intense media scrutiny, Lopez filed for divorce from Affleck in August after two years of marriage. Her filings listed the couple’s date of separation as April 26, 2024.
Still, Lopez didn’t let the upheaval in her life slow her down much. By September, the actor and singer was turning heads in a series of jaw-dropping looks at the Toronto International Film Festival, where her latest movie, “Unstoppable,” premiered to glowing reviews.
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“It’s one of those great inspirational stories that I think the world needs right now,” Lopez said of the film, set to hit theaters in December.
Elsewhere in the interview, Lopez made it clear that she’s eager to return to the concert stage. Her This Is Me… Live Tour, which had been slated to open in Orlando, Florida, in June, was called off on May 26, reportedly due to low ticket sales.
“I can’t wait to get back out there,” she told Glaser. “I was so devastated to let anybody down, but I just needed to be with my kids and myself and really dig down deep into things that were happening in my life. And I’m glad I did, because it was a really difficult time for me.”