‘Made me angry’: Disturbing reaction to Jennifer Lopez red carpet photos

The disturbing reaction to Jennifer Lopez’s latest red carpet appearance, and the continued “scrutinising” of women’s bodies, has been blasted.

A body confidence influencer has blasted the reaction to Jennifer Lopez’s latest red carpet appearance, and the continued 'scrutinising' of women’s bodies.

A body confidence influencer and podcaster has blasted the reaction to Jennifer Lopez’s latest red carpet appearance, and the continued “scrutinising” of women’s bodies.

Lopez, who was honoured at the 2023 ELLE Women in Hollywood Celebration on December 5, walked the red carpet in a futuristic, cropped silver breast plate by New York-based designer Grace Ling. The completely backless piece was sculpted to the 54-year-old’s chest, shoulders and décolletage – and cropped short enough to show a slight hint of underboob and her abdomen. Lopez paired the statement armour with a floor-length black skirt with a scooped waistline and fitted silhouette.

Needless to say, as always, she looked incredible.

But that didn’t stop people – mostly other women – from taking to the comments section of a clip of Lopez and her husband, Ben Affleck, posing for photos together to declare the singer and actor is “too old to dress like that” – among other disparaging remarks about Lopez’s body and age.

Sharing the video, and subsequent negativity, to her own Instagram, Alex Light slammed the rhetoric, writing in the post’s caption: “God this comment section made me angry.”

Jennifer Lopez attends ELLE's 2023 Women in Hollywood Celebration. Picture: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for ELLE

The singer and actor wore a cropped silver breast plate by New York-based designer Grace Ling. Picture: Michael Tran/AFP

“It’s nearly 2024 and yet we are *still* scrutinising women’s bodies. Why tf do we care whether J Lo’s dress fits her perfectly/whether she has a minuscule (sic) fat roll/whether her stomach isn’t perfectly flat? It’s madness!”

Light, who is also the author of You are not a before picture: How to Finally Make Peace with Your Body, for Good, continued:

“And the comments are bad, but what also pains me is how many people ‘like’ these comments – some of them have thousands of likes! Smh. Leave. Women. Alone.”

Ms Light’s more than 551,000 followers agreed – writing that they’d “die” to look like Lopez.

“If people can criticise bloody JLO’s (sic) body then there really is no hope for the rest of us,” another said.

“She could wear a rubbish bag and still look amazing,” a third wrote.

While one woman commented: “Our cultural fixation on appearance hurts everyone. Even those commenters. You don’t truly feel good when you’re judging someone else. It’s just a cover for the insecurity that resides inside.”

‘She could wear a rubbish bag and still look amazing.’ Picture: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for ELLE

Lopez, in an accompanying interview with ELLE, spoke about “ageing” in Hollywood, telling the magazine that women only get “sexier as they get older”.

“As you get older and you have more experience, you become a richer human being and you have more to offer. The idea of, ‘There’s nothing really valuable about watching a woman over 30’ is so ridiculous, it’s the opposite of right. It just makes me laugh,” the mother-of-two said.

“People have realised that women just get sexier as they get older. They get more learned and more rich with character. All of that is very beautiful and attractive, and not just physically, but on the inside, the beauty that you gain as you get older, the wisdom you gain.”

Echoing the sentiment in a November interview with Vogue, Lopez said she was also “finally at the point in my life where I love every part of myself unapologetically”.

“Every part of me, my body, my voice, my choices, even, like, my mistakes. All of it made me who I am and got me to where I am today,” she said.

“Ben wants me to understand my worth and know my value. I feel even more relaxed and comfortable, which makes me feel even more beautiful than I have ever felt with someone else.”

Originally published as ‘Made me angry’: Disturbing reaction to Jennifer Lopez red carpet photos