Jennifer Lopez : biography

Personal life

For over fifteen years, Lopez’s personal life has attracted widespread media attention.. From February 1997 to January 1998, she was married to Cuban actor Ojani Noa. Since their brief marriage, Lopez has endured legal troubles regarding Noa. She sued to prevent him from publishing a book about their marriage in April 2006, contending that it violated with their confidentiality agreement. The following year, a court-appointed arbitrator issued a permanent injunction forbidding Noa from "criticizing, denigrating, casting in a negative light or otherwise disparaging" Lopez. She was awarded $545,000 in compensatory damages and Noa was ordered to hand over all copies of materials related to the book to Lopez or her attorney. A lawsuit regarding a compromising private honeymoon video in Noa’s possession is presently running.

While working on her first album On the 6, Lopez began dating record producer and rapper Sean Combs. On December 27, 1999, the couple were arrested along with two others in connection to a shooting outside the Times Square Club in New York. They were charged with criminal possession of a weapon as well as stolen property. Lopez was soon exonerated, having had nothing to do with the crime. However, Combs was charged and given an indictment by a Manhattan grand jury. After leaving Combs, Lopez developed a relationship with former back-up dancer Cris Judd, whom she was married to from September 2001 to June 2002. Following her second divorce, she commenced a high-profile relationship with actor and director Ben Affleck, whom she became engaged to in November 2002. The media began to refer to them as "Bennifer" and they became a prominent supercouple in the media and popular culture. Bennifer became a popular term, which was eventually entered into urban dictionaries and neologism dictionaries as notable, as the name blend started the trend of other celebrity couples being referred to by the combination of each other’s first names. The couple postponed their nuptials indefinitely a day prior to the planned ceremony in September 2003, citing the media’s interference with the event as the reason.

Following her break-up with Affleck in January 2004, Lopez began dating long-time friend Marc Anthony. The couple wed that June. Two men attempted to ransom a private wedding video which was stolen from the couple for one million dollars; however they were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on charges of conspiracy, attempted grand larceny and possession of stolen property. On November 7, 2007, during the final night of their co-headlining tour, Lopez and Anthony officially confirmed that they were expecting their first child together. The announcement ended months of speculation over the pregnancy. Her father confirmed that the couple were expecting twins, revealing that it runs in the family: "My sister also had twins, so it’s a hereditary thing".

Lopez gave birth to a son, Maximilian David, and a daughter, Emme Maribel, in Long Island, New York on February 22, 2008. The twins were introduced in the March 11, 2008 issue of People, for which the magazine paid a reported $6 million—the photographs of the twins became the most expensive celebrity picture ever taken at the time. Three years later in July 2011, the couple announced their split, with Anthony filing for divorce in April 2012. Since October 2011, Lopez has been in a relationship with her former back-up dancer Casper Smart. Lopez has stated, "I am a nontraditional family. Me being a single mom, their dad doesn’t live at home with them. They have three stepbrothers from two other mothers…that’s not traditional".

Career

In Living Color and early film career (1991–96)

Lopez was selected as a backup dancer for the New Kids on the Block in 1991 and performed with them during their performance of "Games" at the 8th Annual American Music Awards. Shortly after, Lopez gained her first regular high-profile job as a Fly Girl dancer on the television program In Living Color. She applied for the job after one of the cast members was unavailable to continue with the show. Out of 2,000 applicants, Lopez made it to the finals. She was the runner-up, but eventually received the role when the winner was unable to accept the job. She moved with Cruz to Los Angeles to film the series and remained a regular cast member until 1993 when she decided to pursue a full-time acting career. Prior to leaving the show, Lopez briefly worked as a backup dancer for American recording artist Janet Jackson. Lopez was set to tour with Jackson on her Janet World Tour in late 1993, but backed out as she wanted to do her "own thing."