Jennifer Lopez Gets Candid About Her Time on ‘American Idol’ & Fears it Would Ruin Her Career

Hit All the High Notes

For exclusive news and updates, subscribe to our American Idol Newsletter:

Jennifer Lopez feels that her biggest career risk, and she’s taken quite a few (see 2024’s This Is Me… Now era), was being an American Idol judge.

The multi-hyphenate revealed her team strongly urged her against joining Idol during a conversation with comedian Nikki Glaser for Interview Magazine on Wednesday, October 10.

According to Lopez, who was a judge from 2011 to 2016, Idol was “looked down upon” at the time and agreed there’s a stigma against doing it.

“All of my advisers were like, ‘Don’t do this, you’re going to be reduced to just a reality star,’” she said. They reportedly warned her: “Nobody will ever hire you for a movie ever again.”

However, J.Lo was headstrong and pushed back: “And I was just like, ‘No. I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen. I think I have something to contribute,’ she recalled.

“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?’ 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.”

J.Lo starred on the show alongside Randy Jackson and Steven Tyler, later Harry Connick Jr. and Keith Urban.

Lopez said she was also warned against doing her residency in Las Vegas, but much like Idol, that worked out.

“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,” she said.

“I’ll do things that could be risky because I believe that they’re going to turn out okay. I’d done all these big movies and made these albums and now they’re asking me to do reality TV,” she added.

The risk paid off, as J. Lo explained that Idol paved the way back into the limelight after she “hadn’t worked” and was focused on her family, as her career slowed after giving birth to twins in 2008.

Then, her music and acting career took off again as Idol wound up increasing her star power once more. Roles in The Boy Next Door and Ice Age: Continental Drift soon came, leading to more acclaimed roles in TV’s Shades of Blue and her Golden Globe-nominated performance in Hustlers.

Related

'The Voice' Star Snoop Dogg Gets Major News About Notorious Murder Case

Meanwhile, Idol‘s 23rd season is on the horizon as ABC recently unveiled a first look at the newest judge and past winner, Carrie Underwood.

She joins long-running host Ryan Seacrest and current judges Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan for the latest round of competition as they seek out the next big thing in music.

In 2025, American Idol will ring in its eighth season with ABC after previously airing for 15 seasons on Fox where the series originally debuted.

American Idol, Season 23 Premiere, 2025, ABC