Jennifer Lopez was at the center of crisis talks over her upcoming tour, with organizers keen to pull the plug over poor ticket sales to stave embarrassment – but the singer and her manager refused, insiders have claimed.
Lopez, 54, is hitting the road next month with a string of dates across North America in support of her ninth studio album, This is Me… Now.
But with only a matter of weeks to go, she is still facing a worrying lack of sales, with blocks of seating still available at multiple venues, according to official seat maps on Ticketmaster, and resale sites scalping tickets for as little as $10.
Now, multiple insiders have claimed Live Nation, the promoter behind the tour, recently suggested canceling all 30 dates – but no one, including her long term manager Benny Medina, was able to convince her.
Jennifer Lopez, 54, launches her This Is Me… Live The Greatest Hits tour in six weeks – despite meetings with Live Nation, who advised her to cancel the show (pictured on stage in 2022)
Insiders also told DailyMail.com that Lopez’s manager Benny Medina – who launched her career in 1999 – refused to cancel the show if Lopez wanted to continue
‘A few weeks ago, Live Nation met with JLo’s manager Benny Medina to suggest cancelling JLo’s tour and because him and JLo are so adamant that the show must go on, it’s going on,’ the insider said.
Medina urged Lopez to create her latest album This Is Me.. Now, which centers around the rekindling of her relationship with Ben Affleck 20 years after the two separated.
According to Variety, Medina – who launched JLo’s career in 1999 – believed that her love story with the actor needed to be retold, and he told her: ‘Let me put you in touch with some writers who can help you transcribe this.’
The insider suggested a lack of appetite for her tour could be due to her being ‘overexposed.’
‘JLo is over exposed and has put herself out there way too much,’ they continued. ‘First it was her marriage, then her never-ending honeymoon, followed by a movie, then an album release.
‘Then she felt the need to tell her and Ben’s love story in a documentary that she funded called The Greatest Love Story Never Told.
‘And now Benny allowed her to go on a massive tour. It is just too much.’
Affleck and Matt Damon’s company Artists Equity financed the documentary, while Lopez self financed her film This Is Me…Now: A Love Story for $20 million.
Lopez’s former publicist, Rob Shuter, uttered similar sentiments during an interview with the The New York Post, claiming her mistake was thinking people still care about her love story with Affleck.
Tickets to see Lopez at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on July 6, are on sale for $10 on resale site Seat Checker – $26 less than the cost of one of her merch caps
The insider suggested a lack of appetite for her tour could be due to her being ‘overexposed’ and a lack of interest in her love story with husband Ben Affleck (pictured in February)
‘Jennifer’s always been a marketing and PR genius but her biggest miscalculation here is that she thinks the world is still interested in Ben and Jennifer’s love story,’ he said.
‘But no one cares about Bennifer anymore. The world has moved on.’
A second source told DailyMail.com that Live Nation held talks with Medina to prevent the embarrassment of Lopez performing to an arena full of empty seats.
‘Live Nation is very concerned about the lack of tickets sold and doesn’t want Jen to feel embarrassed when she goes out there and sees empty patches in the stadiums she is going to perform at,’ they said.
‘But Jen has too much pride to cancel it, so it’ll currently be what it will be, they can’t convince her to change course.’
A third source also confirmed meetings took place, telling DailyMail.com: ‘There were discussions regarding multiple options pertaining to the tour, but ultimately it was agreed on by everyone involved (Live Nation, the talent and management) that the tour would remain on course.
‘Cancellations were announced which was guided by Live Nation and several additional dates were added. Jennifer is looking forward to the tour starting and seeing her fans at the shows.’
DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Lopez, Live Nation and Medina for comment.
Lopez announced her This is Me… Now tour in February – her first US tour in five years.
In March, she quietly canceled seven dates in Cleveland, Nashville, Raleigh, Atlanta, Tampa, New Orleans and Houston between August 20 and 31 amid slow sales.
At the same time she announced the addition of second dates in Miami, Toronto and New York.
Her date at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where not even 50 per cent of tickets appear to have been sold
Despite selling the majority of tickets for the first night in New York City, numbers are poor for the second night on August 17 (pictured), which also doubles up as the closing night of the tour
Swathes of resale tickets are also on offer for the opening night in Orlando, Florida, on June 26, on Ticketmaster.
Shortly after, she renamed the tour This Is Me… Live The Greatest Hits in an apparent bid to appeal to fans after initially planning to focus it on her latest album– and first in 10 years.
But despite the rebrand, tickets for her July 6 date at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, are being sold for as little as $10 on resale site Seat Checker. The low figure is $26 cheaper than the price of one of her This is Me Now caps from her tour merch.
Swathes of resale tickets are also on offer for the opening night in Orlando, Florida, on June 26, on Ticketmaster.
Performances in Denver, Colorado, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, are selling particularly badly, with row upon row of seats still available, according to the website.
The numbers are also concerning for her double nights at the Kaseya Center in Miami on June 28 and 29, and her hometown shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City on August 16 and 17.
Despite selling the majority of tickets for the first nights, numbers are abysmal for the second, in particular on August 17 – the closing night of the tour – with large numbers of seats still available.
VIP packages for the gig, which range in price from $651 to $4,198, are also proving difficult to shift.
Other acts playing the 19,500-seat MSG arena this summer include Niall Horan and Billy Joel, who are close to selling out, while Pearl Jam has sold out two back-to-back shows in September at full capacity.
In contrast, there are a handful of locations that look close to selling out. These include Lopez’s upcoming shows in Newark, New Jersey, and Canada’s Toronto and Montreal in early August, where whole blocks of seating have been booked up.
The original poster for Lopez’s This is Me… Now tour before she changed the name and scrapped seven dates
Blocks of seating are still available at some venues, according to official seat maps on Ticketmaster,despite the updated title
Sources previously told DailyMail.com that Lopez’s decision to rebrand may have been partly inspired by the success of her competitors Taylor Swift and Madonna, who have enjoyed hugely successful tours in the last two years.
‘Jennifer saw how well Taylor Swift did with the Eras Tour and Madonna did with Celebration, which spans their entire careers, and she hopes to be able to deliver something that will take her fans through the journey of her life,’ an insider told DailyMail.com exclusively.
It is perhaps no surprise that Lopez looked to Swift, 34, whose record-breaking Eras Tour surpassed $1 billion in revenue, making it the highest grossing of all time.
Spanning over 3.5 hours, each show consists of a 44-song set list from the singer’s 17-year career.
Meanwhile, Madonna’s recently wrapped Celebration Tour, which paid homage to her four decade-long career, made an impressive $77 million in ticket sales. Her final show in Rio de Janeiro, which was free, shattered records as the highest attendance of any concert ever, drawing in a staggering $1.6 million fans.
Brand expert Hayley Knight previously told DailyMail.com that Lopez’s difficulty with shifting tickets could be the result of a bad marketing strategy – but claimed the rebrand would not necessarily help.
‘There is one main reason why Jennifer Lopez has rebranded her tour, and that’s to get people talking about it,’ she said.
‘Sales are low, and there hasn’t been a great deal of engagement or buzz around it, so rebranding it has gotten everyone talking about it again.’
At the Met Gala on Monday (seen here), Lopez – who was a co-chair for the fashion event – was accused of treating a reporter like a ‘peasant’
‘That’s our humble Jenny from the Block,’ on TikToker commented, nodding the mother-of-two’s 2002 hit track, in which she sings about how she will never forget her roots
She said the new title ‘diminishes the confidence she has in her same titled new album, and focuses on her hits,’ adding: ‘Secondly, unlike the likes of Taylor Swift, Madonna, Britney Spears and Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez doesn’t have a devoted fan base.
‘She has more casual fans of her music, who may or may not choose to go and see her live.’
Lopez’s appearance at this year’s Met Gala may not help to shift tickets, with the Jenny From the Block singer branded ‘rude and dismissive’ during an interview with a reporter.
USA Today Senior News Editor Anika Reed shared a TikTok video of the Lopez, who co-chaired the event, giving a seemingly rude response when she asked the star: ‘Who are you wearing tonight?’
‘Schiaparelli,’ Lopez answered as she walked up the famous Met Gala steps, where she was being shouted at by more than 20 journalists on both sides of the carpet.
Social media users were quick to call out the Let’s Get Loud hitmaker for speaking to the reporter like she was ‘a peasant.’
‘That’s our humble Jenny from the Block,’ one user stated, giving a nod to her 2002 hit track, in which she sings about how she will never forget her roots despite her fame and wealth.
Reed, the reporter, poked fun at the fleeting interaction in her caption as she wrote that Lopez ‘briefly told’ her about her custom Schiaparelli Haute Couture gown, designed by Daniel Roseberry.
This Is Me… Live The Greatest Hits marks Lopez’s comeback after a five-year hiatus, following her 2019 tour that grossed more than $50 million.
Her latest album debuted at number 38 on the Billboard 200, marking the first time she has missed out on the top 20.
It also failed to reach the top 50 on the UK Album Chart, entering at a dismal 55.
