Jennifer Lopez vs. Howard Stern: Confrontation After Years of On-Air Mockery

Jennifer Lopez Dishes on Dating, Fame, and Career Regrets with Howard Stern

In a surprise move, Jennifer Lopez made her debut appearance on The Howard Stern Show this week, marking the end of years of public jabs from the shock jock. Despite Stern's history of mocking her looks, talent, and relationships, Lopez put on a brave face and joined him on his SiriusXM show Wednesday.

For those who may be unfamiliar with their infamous past, let's take a quick trip down memory lane. In 2001, Stern tore into Lopez's Academy Award dress, deeming it "looks like a potato sack." He also slammed her vocals, claiming she sounded like karaoke and proved she "wasn't a great singer" (Alternative Nation). By 2012, he was still at it, dismissing her as "the worst judge out there" during her stint on American Idol. And if that wasn't enough, he even ridiculed her romance with Ben Affleck in 2003, calling it "ridiculous but real."

But despite all the public jabs, Lopez revealed she had no qualms about joining Stern on his show. In fact, she admitted to being scared to come on initially, not because of his past comments, but because she worried she might say something she regrets.

As the interview got underway, Stern opened with a question that had been on everyone's mind: does fame make it harder to date other celebrities? Lopez candidly discussed her experiences, hinting at her recent split from Ben Affleck. The couple had been married and divorced before reuniting in 2022, only to part ways again in August 2024.

"It's difficult to be under that microscope," she agreed. Stern pressed on, asking if it seemed like everything was doomed from the start. Lopez quickly shot down the idea: "No, I don't feel that."

"I think I made mistakes... in the sense that I live my life very out loud... even though I'm in the public eye," she explained. "And I wanted to share my life with someone. I want someone to be there to share my big important moments on the red carpet."

The conversation turned to her dating life, and Lopez revealed that there was one guy who had caught her eye – but he didn't respond to her advances 10 years ago.

"I won't say his name... but this was... 10 years ago," she laughed. "Yeah, he didn't respond back and I was just like 'ok.' I just kind of moved on."

But what about the one movie role she regrets turning down? Lopez dished that it was Adrian Lyne's Unfaithful (2002), a thriller starring Diane Lane opposite Richard Gere.

"I passed on it because the script wasn't good... and then Lyne made it great," she admitted. Ouch!

The conversation with Stern continued, but surprisingly, they didn't dwell on past digs. Instead, they hit it off immediately, discussing everything from getting older to fame's effects on personal life.

Lopez opened up about the compromises that come with being a high-profile celebrity: "There is a trade-off... you have to learn to navigate your personal life and my personal life has suffered at times because of that."

Stern chimed in, "You have to change, you have to change your behavior... if you want to have a successful relationship in your life." Lopez nodded in agreement.

As the interview came to a close, it was clear that these two had put their past differences aside. Maybe there's even hope for a future collaboration or two?

Howard Stern's most savage jibes about Jennifer Lopez

2000: Howard slammed Lopez's MTV Awards outfit, saying she "looked like a hippo" (thescholarlynote.com).

2001: Howard called Lopez's Academy Awards dress "horrible looking," claiming it "looked like a potato sack" (thescholarlynote.com).

2003: Howard described Lopez and Ben Affleck's relationship as "ridiculous but real" (thescholarlynote.com).

2003: Howard reportedly mocked Lopez's vocals, saying her rendition of "You Belong to Me" sounded like karaoke and proved she "isn't a great singer" (Alternative Nation).

2004: Howard called Lopez "very strange" during her appearance on David Letterman and joked that "poor Dave probably wanted to kill himself during that interview" (thescholarlynote.com).

2010: Howard reportedly said Lopez was considered for American Idol but "was such a diva that they decided to drop the idea" (thescholarlynote.com).

2011: Howard reportedly said Lopez "starts to talk and she sounds so phony" on American Idol (thescholarlynote.com).

2012: Howard reportedly called Lopez "the worst judge out there" after audio surfaced of street interviews about the new America's Got Talent judge (thescholarlynote.com).

2014: Howard dismissed a headline about Barry Levinson directing Lopez in an FBI drama, saying "there's no way that can be a hit" despite her following (thescholarlynote.com).

2015: Howard reportedly said the most exciting moment of the Oscars was Lopez tripping over her dress and admitted he "can't stand her" because she "just rubs him the wrong way" (thescholarlynote.com).

2015: Howard claimed Lopez dissed him on Andy Cohen's show, giving an "Eww" when asked if she would sleep with him, and said he had no interest anyway (thescholarlynote.com).

2016: Howard reportedly slammed Lopez's new show, saying she "can't act" despite the presence of Ray Liotta (thescholarlynote.com).

2017: Howard reportedly said he could only watch one episode of Lopez's cop show, criticizing it despite Robin claiming she loved it, and mocked the idea that Lopez was believable as a cop based on the news article just shown (thescholarlynote.com).