How can you honestly hate Jennifer Lopez? Her career has lasted over 20 years and she’s shown no signs of slowing down (and she just signed on to be an American Idol judge again). Who would’ve thought that the girl from Selena would’ve transcended to the brand that she is today? Honestly, who else could have a number one single past the age of 40? I’m fangirling too hard right now but I believe you get my point.
Anyway, Ms. Lopez is Cosmo’s October cover girl and she’s talking about so much. Remember when she performed for that dictator in Turkmenistan? Lopez says, “I know that being seen as a role model means taking responsibility for all my actions. I am human, and of course, sometimes I make mistakes. But I promise that when I fall, I get back up. When I am wrong, I will learn the lesson and move on to face other challenges. For me, that’s what creating your own life is. Doing your best work while being your best self.” It’s kind of a cop out answer but I didn’t expect J. Lo to denounce the human rights violations of the Turkmen dictator. Global politics can be a sticky situation.
COVER AND PHOTO | MATTHIAS VRIENS-MCGRATH/COSMOPOLITAN
In I’m-sure-she-just-said-this-for-young-readers news, Jennifer says she didn’t feel confident until late in life. She says, “”It was after I had kids to be honest…The biggest insecurity I had was my singing. Even though I had sold 70 million records, there was this feeling like, I’m not good at this. And while I was married to Marc, he helped me get over it. He kept telling me, ‘You’re the only one holding yourself back from reaching your full potential as a singer. You have to let go’…I was always so insecure and just kind of going along. Then I grew, little by little, and realized, wait a minute, this is not a fluke. I’m not a mistake – I work my ass off. And I know what I’m doing.” I can understand that. The 90s were rough for all of us and Jennifer’s lipliner game wasn’t really on point until she had a music career. We all have our crosses to bear.
Finally, Jennifer discusses her relationship with Beau “Casper” Smart. I’ve been living my life to this point thinking his birth name was Casper so my entire world was rocked today. In other shocking news, she calls him Beau! How was this not brought to my attention? Luckily for me, she talks about their relationship, saying, For me, it’s about having a great partner to walk this life with. I have my own high standards for what I want in a partner and how I want to be treated. I bring a lot to the table. I’m not talking about material things but what I have to offer as a person – love and loyalty and all the things that make a good relationship.” I really do love her and Casper together. Their chemistry is palpable, especially in the “Dance Again” video.
PHOTO | GOMILLION AND LEUPOLD/COSMOPOLITAN
The October issue of Cosmopolitan hits newsstands September 10th.