Jennifer Lopez Opens Up About Feeling Guilty Over Her Kids ‘Being Judged’ By Strangers Due To Her Fame

May 18, 2023 by apost team

Everybody loves Jennifer Lopez; she stole the nation's hearts with her performance in the 1997 hit biopic “Selena” and hasn't stopped since. Lopez is now 53 and arguably the most influential Latin performer in the world. Her movies have grossed over $3 billion, and she has sold around 80 million copies of her musical recordings worldwide. 

Apart from her career, Lopez’s fans are thoroughly invested in her personal life as well. Lopez’s love life always makes headlines, and the media circus went into overdrive in 2021, when news surfaced that she and her ex-boyfriend, actor Ben Affleck, were back together.

Both artists are known for their illustrious careers. Affleck is an actor and filmmaker, while Lopez is a singer and actress. The two met in 2001 on the set of the film “Gigli.” They first began dating in 2002 and were engaged by 2003. However, the pair – then dubbed “Bennifer” – never made it down the aisle and split up in 2004. 

After their breakup, they each went on to marry other people. Lopez married singer Marc Anthony and had twins Emme Muñiz and Max Muñiz. However, they divorced in 2014. Meanwhile, Affleck married his “Daredevil” co-star Jennifer Garner in 2005, and they were together until their divorce in 2018.

As 2021 rolled around, Lopez and Affleck found themselves both single at the same time. They reconnected and found love blossoming for a second time. Lopez confirmed they were dating in a social media post in July of that year and just one year later, in July 2022, Bennifer finally tied the knot.

But all that money and fame has a price as Lopez shared just how much of a toll it has taken on her children who “didn’t choose” to live a life under the constant glare of a spotlight.

In February 2022, Lopez opened up about how things have changed as her twins have gotten older. "They're going to be 14 in a couple of days, and they have opinions about the world and their lives," she told Today. "And now they see their dad, me as well, we're in the public eye, what that means, what that means for them, school, everything."

The mother of two is keen on keeping her kids away from the media, particularly after seeing an uptick in attention following her rekindled romance with Affleck. She said their priorities have changed since the heyday of their youth and told the outlet:

"I think we're older now, we have kids, and we have a different sense of responsibility, and we have a lot more experience and we're just in a different place in our life. We're going to try to keep as much as we can sharing our happiness, but at the same time keeping it very sacred and close to our own hearts.”

However, Lopez admitted it’s not always sunshine and roses as her kids enter their moody teenage phase. She told ExtraTV:

“My kids are at that age where they are challenging the status quo and really looking at you and now, it's not all hearts and flowers anymore.”

However, Lopez understood that “they're also coming into their own and figuring themselves out and looking at their life and seeing what they love about it and seeing what they don't like about it.”

Lopez also discussed the topic on “The View,” and lamented that this was “the time when your kids don’t want to talk to you, and they’re kind of individuating from you and it’s all necessary.” She continued, “Intellectually, I understand it ― but my heart, my heart hurts.”

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Another challenge Lopez has had to face has been the “guilt” over the challenges her children have to face because of her fame. She told Audacy:

“I think being the child of famous parents is really something many people can't understand, and I feel for them for that because they didn’t choose that.”

She added: “It's hard for them. I did that to them and so, we have this guilt as mom's, like, what we do and what we brought into their lives.”

She acknowledged that it couldn’t be easy for her kids to feel constantly judged by strangers.

“It doesn't matter who you are, you could get bullied but being judged by people that you don't even know, in a way, it is I think really difficult for them to grow up and be themselves. It's just like they know that there's a lens on them and that's hard. It's hard for them, I think, and I did that to them,” she remarked.

Lopez said she has just started to have conversations with them about the matter. “They have just started letting me know how people treat them. So when they walk into the room, that’s what people are thinking about. They’re not seeing them for who they are. And I think that has to be a really hard thing for them,” she said.

She added while she wished she could “protect” them from all the nasty things in life, that wasn’t rational or necessarily helpful.

“You don’t ever want them to feel a moment of pain in their lives, but that’s not realistic. You realize as you get older, OK, the pain is necessary. The pain is actually good. The pain kind of makes you feel a little bit like a warrior when you get through it.”

What are your thoughts on how Jennifer Lopez’s fame has affected her children? If you liked this story, be sure to pass this on to family and friends as well.