Jennifer Lopez’s Manager Shared Why He Initially Found Her Behavior Off-Putting

In the early years of Jennifer Lopez’s career, she proved to her manager that she was willing to do whatever it took to succeed. She worked tirelessly, willing to juggle many projects at once. She was also direct and informed when she discussed her goals. Her manager, Benny Medina, admitted he found this slightly off-putting at first.

Jennifer Lopez’s manager said he wasn’t sure what to make of her

For years, Lopez has denied rumors that she is a diva. She has called these claims unfair and overblown.

“Just because I know my strengths doesn’t mean I have a huge ego,” she told Movieline in 1998. “The one thing I cannot tolerate in Hollywood is this trickle effect of every single person — from the top with your studio guys — pissing on whoever is below them. Nobody can say that I treat people like that ever.”

Still, her laser focus and drive surprised some people, especially when she was initially starting out in Hollywood. Even her manager wasn’t sure what to make of her. He said he wasn’t used to working with women like Lopez.

“At first, I admit it was odd,” Medina told W Magazine. “I hadn’t managed many women, and I realized that a woman empowered, telling me what to do, was kind of new. It put me off. I now understand why somebody wants to call somebody a diva or a b**** and make them out to be demanding.”

Medina said Lopez called him out for his behavior.

“I’ve learned about the double standard,” he said. “Luckily Jen was sharp enough to ask me, ‘Why are you reacting that way?’”

Jennifer Lopez fired her manager in 2003

After years of working together, Lopez fired Medina in 2003. In the months after she fired him, Lopez filed a complaint against him with California’s labor commission for misappropriating funds. Medina firmly denied these accusations.

“The accusation that I misappropriated money from Jennifer Lopez is both untrue and offensive … Jennifer Lopez, by making false allegations against me, is now trying to add me to the long list of people whom she has used and discarded after she took from them all she could get,” he said in a statement, per Entertainment Weekly. “I look forward to the opportunity to have the world come to know the real Jennifer Lopez. I will defend myself against these lies and will collect from her every dollar for which I am owed.”

In 2008, however, Medina became Lopez’s manager once again. 

She believes people are harder on women in the entertainment industry

Lopez said that the harsh criticism levied against her over the years has not been easy to handle. She believes that because she is a woman, she gets more backlash than she would if she were a man.

“It’s hard when people are always telling you that you’re not good at things or saying, ‘Why is she successful?’” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “You get a lot of that when you’re a successful woman. You don’t get that as much when you’re a man. The thing about people, women especially, is that you can have 12 people telling you you’re amazing, but that one person kind of putting you down, that’s the voice that sticks in your head.”

Lopez said it helps to remind herself of the hard work that brought her success.