Jennifer Lopez was warned she’d be ‘reduced to just a reality star’ if she did ‘American Idol’
The ‘Waiting for Tonight’ singer appeared on the show for five seasons
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jennifer Lopez doesn’t consider herself a risk-taker, but someone who is confident in her decisions.
In her interview with Nikki Glaser in Interview magazine, Lopez revealed that she was warned by her team that being a judge on "American Idol" would kill her movie career.
"I’d done all these big movies and made these albums and now they’re asking me to do reality TV," Lopez said. "I’ve had kids and I haven’t worked for a couple of years. ‘American Idol’ was a big show at the time."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She said her decision-making process "really comes down to, what do I think I can bring to something?"
JENNIFER LOPEZ BELIEVES GOD HIT HER 'OVER THE HEAD WITH A F---ING SLEDGEHAMMER' TO LEAVE BEN AFFLECK
Jennifer Lopez said she was warned off doing "American Idol" because it would end her movie career. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
But "all of my advisers were like, ‘Don’t do this, you’re going to be reduced to just a reality star.’"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lopez served as a judge a total of five seasons on the show, first in 2011 for the show’s 10th season, replacing Simon Cowell. She returned the next year for season 11, and again in 2014 for the next three seasons.
"It was looked down upon," the "Hustlers" star recalled, adding she had been told "Don’t do that or nobody will ever hire you for a movie ever again."
"And I was just like, ‘No. I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen. I think I have something to contribute.’ I love music and I love mentoring people, and I wanted to share the things that I knew about the business. So it became more about, ‘What do I think I can do with this?’"
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lopez joined Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson as a judge on "American Idol" in 2011. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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After her first two seasons, Billboard called her appearance on the show "the most impressive reality-TV-based rejuvenation of a music career ever."
"When I’m choosing things, even if they seem like not the best idea to everybody else, if I feel it in my gut that it’s the right thing to do, nobody can talk me out of it," Lopez told Interview.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"…all of my advisers were like, ‘Don’t do this, you’re going to be reduced to just a reality star.’"
The "Love Don’t Cost a Thing" singer also launched a Las Vegas show after her appearances on "Idol," another decision she was warned about.
"It’s the same thing when I went to Vegas. They were like, ‘That’s where entertainers go to die.’ And I was like, ‘No.’ And it launched me into a whole new part of my life."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She continued, "I know what I could do. I know the type of show that I’m going to make in Vegas, and I know that we’re going to invite all these people and everybody’s going to come, people who would have never bought a ticket to one of my tours. And all of that, little by little, starts building a new momentum. If they offer you the biggest thing in the world and you’re like, ‘I don’t think I have anything to offer to this,’ then you have to go, ‘This is not for me. I can’t do it.’"
Lopez said she has turned down offers that didn’t feel right, even when she was pressured to do them.
Lopez said she's turned down projects that she doesn't feel she can add anything to. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There’s been movies like that. Sometimes they’ll offer you tons of money to do a commercial or a private show, and you’re just like, ‘No.’ They’re like, ‘Please do it! We all want the commission!’ And I’m like, ‘I can’t do that.’"