Jennifer Lopez almost ruined her Hollywood career after she accused the Queen of Pop, Madonna, of not knowing how to act.

When Jennifer Lopez was still an upcoming actress and singer in the late ’90s, she was good friends with Madonna. Lopez, who was 27 years old at the time, was slowly becoming a household name after taking roles in Anaconda and U-Turn. However, she almost ruined her career in Hollywood and her reputation after starting a feud with Madonna.

While on a movie press run, Jennifer Lopez gave an interview that she would come to regret for years, where she shared her true feelings about her friends and a few actors in the industry. The “If You Had My Love” singer considered some women the ‘bottom of A-list actors,’ and one of them Jennifer Lopez named was Madonna. When the “Material Girl” singer got wind of the Lopez’s interview, things got chaotic for Jennifer Lopez.

Jennifer Lopez’s 1998 Interview Where She Criticized Other Actresses

Madonna’s friendship with Jennifer Lopez has had its ups and downs for years. It all began when Madonna was asked who she thinks is the best female singer in the world, and she said Jennifer Lopez was a good actress but she “couldn’t sing.” Then in a 1998 interview, Jennifer Lopez fired back at Madonna saying she wasn’t a good actor while promoting her film Out of Sight. While talking to Movieline, Lopez shared her feelings about Madonna and other celebrities, including Cameron Diaz, Winona Ryder, and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Lopez made her dislike for Winona Ryder clear during the interview, saying, “I was never a big fan of hers,” and even called her awards trivial. “In Hollywood, she’s revered; she gets nominated for Oscars, but I’ve never heard anyone in the public or among my friends say, ‘Oh, I love her.” Jennifer Lopez also slammed Gwyneth Paltrow’s acting and said she was only famous because of her relationship with Brad Pitt and not her acting.

“Tell me what she’s been in? I swear to God, I don’t remember anything she was in. Some people get hot by association. I heard more about her and Brad Pitt than I ever heard about her work.” Lopez also said Cameron Diaz was a ‘lucky model’ who was given many opportunities she didn’t do much with.

Jennifer Lopez and Madonna’s Feud Began With That Interview

When asked about Madonna’s acting skills, Jennifer Lopez didn’t hold back. “Do I think she’s a great actress? No. Acting is what I do, so I’m harder on people when they say, “Oh, I can do that. I can act. I’m like, ‘Hey, don’t split on my craft.” After the interview was published, Lopez regretted everything she said about her colleagues and said it was all a joke.

However, it was already too late, and Madonna had already read the Jennifer Lopez interview and reportedly felt disrespected. The Maid in Manhattan actress learned just how mad Madonna was when they met at an end-of-year party. It was a New Year’s Eve party hosted by Donatella Versace and attended by famous people like Paltrow, Madonna, and her brother, Christopher Ciccone.

Ciccone explained how Lopez found out she had ruined things with Madonna. Ingrid Casares, Madonna’s close friend, ran to the courtyard during the celebration and shouted, “J.Lo is here, and we’re not talking to her.” He continued, “I flash back to a recent newspaper article and remember that Gwyneth and Madonna are feuding with J.Lo because J.Lo was quoted by a journalist as saying that Madonna couldn’t sing and Gwyneth couldn’t act. Most unwise.”

Ciccone said everyone except for him and Donatella Versace gave the Love Don’t Cost a Thing singer the cold shoulder.

Madonna Claps Back At Jennifer Lopez In Another Interview

During an Access Hollywood interview in 2003, Madonna poked Jennifer Lopez about her relationship with Ben Affleck. She said the couple was overexposing themselves to the media, and that’s the reason things weren’t working out between them. “At the end of the day, I feel like that’s their job, but there needs to be a part of the relationship that you keep private,” she said after the couple postponed their wedding in late 2003.

At the time, Jennifer Lopez released a statement blaming the excessive media attention as the reason they canceled their first wedding. Part of it read, “When we found ourselves seriously contemplating hiring three separate ‘decoy brides’ at three different locations, we realized that something was awry.”

In the Access Hollywood interview, Madonna added that even media scrutiny couldn’t break up a strong relationship. “If you have a strong relationship, and there is an understanding of what a committed marriage is, I don’t think that having a lot of media attention can break it up.” Lopez and Affleck were split by the end of January 2004.

Did Jennifer Lopez Apologize To Madonna?

Jennifer Lopez apologized for her statements about Madonna and her fellow actresses. She told Vanity Fairher words were taken out of context and misquoted by the magazine. “It’s a sore subject for me. I don’t like to hurt anybody. I don’t like to hurt their feelings. I like to joke, so I do that sometimes. What they wrote in that article hurt people.”

Jennifer Lopez and Madonna seemingly mended their friendship after her 2004 split from Ben Affleck. According to a 2023 interview with E! News, she and Britney Spears went to Madonna’s house to rehearse Like A Virgin for the 2003 MTV Awards and talked about “everything.” However, Lopez’s plans for the act fell through after not getting time off a movie she was filming in Canada. She added, “I’m a huge fan of Madonna. I always have been.”

Madonna and Jennifer Lopez seemingly put the interview behind them and have been spotted together many times. Lopez even attended Madonna’s Rebel Tour in 2015.