Jennifer Lopez says she didn’t receive enough love as a child from ‘narcissistic’ mother and absent dad
Jennifer Lopez reflected on her childhood during a candid moment in her new documentary, “The Greatest Love Story Never Told.”
The “Let’s Get Loud” singer, who grew up in the Bronx with two siblings, claimed she didn’t receive enough love from her parents.
“When I was growing up I was always looking for somebody to make me feel loved,” she told viewers.
“I was a middle child, not the baby, not the first born … you just kind of get lost a little bit in between it all,” the “Hustlers” actress, 54, went on, referencing her sisters Leslie, 56, and Lynda, 52.
Lopez also spoke about her parents, Guadalupe Rodriguez and David Lopez, who divorced in the ’90s.
“I felt very ignored by my dad because he was always working nights then all day he would sleep and I didn’t feel like I had enough of a connection with him,” she said.
“My mom was narcissistic, center of the attention, life of the party-type person,” Lopez added.
The songwriter previously alluded to her tricky relationship with her mother in the 2022 Netflix documentary, “Halftime.”
“She did what she had to do to survive, and it made her strong, but it also made her tough,” she went on, alleging, “She beat the s–t out of us.”
The mother-daughter duo also took “a break” from each other when Lopez defied her mom’s wishes by opting out of going to college.
“I wanted to try dance full time … I started sleeping on the sofa in the dance studio. I was homeless, but I told her, ‘This is what I have to do,’” she recalled.
Lopez is now on good terms with both of her parents, and even shared an Instagram post for David on Father’s Day last year.
“Daddy, I love you,” she wrote, to which he responded, “Thank you, sweetheart, I love you more.”
Elsewhere in the documentary, the “Selena” star recalled finding herself in abusive relationships.
“But I’ve definitely been manhandled and a couple of other unsavory things,” she clarified, opting not to name any of her exes.
“Being thrown around and manhandled like that is not fun. I mean, I was never in a relationship where I got beat up, thank God,” she said.
