An Oscar Winner Offered Advice on Jennifer Lopez’s Crumbling Marriage

Jennifer Lopez and Ojani Noa’s marriage was short-lived. Noa was her first husband and met her so early in her career that he didn’t recognize her. By the time they wed, though, she was a rapidly rising star. This became a problem for him. Noa said that as Lopez’s popularity grew, the distance between the couple did too. He received surprising advice from an Oscar winner when he complained about their marital problems.

Jennifer Lopez’s co-star gave advice on her first marriage

In 1996, Lopez starred in the film Blood and Wine alongside Jack Nicholson. She attended the film’s premiere with Noa, whom she had recently begun dating.

“I heard her say, ‘Jack, I want you to meet my date, Ojani.’ I turned around and she was introducing me to Jack Nicholson,” Noa told the Daily Mail. “Then she said, ‘This is Michael’ – and it was Michael Caine. I felt like I was in a movie. A few years earlier I was on a dinghy in the ocean running away from Fidel Castro, and now I’m on a red carpet.”

By 1997, the couple had married and were facing significant problems in their relationship. They fought often, but Lopez wanted to present their relationship as a happy one. This led Noa to feel as though he was living a lie. He spoke to Nicholson about this at the Golden Globes.

“We went to the Golden Globes and sat with Jack [Nicholson],” Noa recalled. “He said, ‘You guys look so happy.’ I told him, ‘It’s not what it seems.’ He told me to hang in there. I never thought I would be getting relationship advice from Jack Nicholson.”

Ojani Noa said the beginning of their relationship was very romantic

When Noa first met Nicholson at the Blood and Wine premiere, his relationship with Lopez was in a much better place. They had only recently met, but he already felt close to her. They met at a restaurant where he worked as a waiter.

“I had no idea who she was,” he said. “Our eyes glanced at each other and I thought she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She was with her friend, Anita, and Arlene, her assistant.”

According to Noa, Lopez felt similarly smitten.

“She was wearing a white top and trousers, and I remember thinking she had the best body I’d ever seen,” he said. “She later told me she knew that first night she was going to marry me.”

Ojani Noa said he no longer feels bitterly toward Jennifer Lopez over the end of their marriage

Noa claimed that when he and Lopez first divorced, they were still friendly with one another. She even made him the manager of her restaurant, Madre’s. After he lost his job, though, he sued her for wrongful termination. Several years later, she sued him for trying to write a book about her. These days, though, Noa said he doesn’t hold onto any resentment. 

“For many years I felt burned, bruised,” he said. “I think if she hadn’t had all those people around her then we might still be together. But I have my life and I am happy. I still believe in love and I hope Jen has finally found the love she has been looking for.”