Jennifer Lopez explained to 'Vogue' how she's teaching her teenage twins and her three stepchildren 'to stand up for themselves' and never be 'afraid'.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck‘s five children are very passionate about politics, the singer revealed in her new interview with Vogue for the magazine’s Dec. 2022 interview. “This generation is beautifully aware and involved and brave,” said J.Lo, who is mom to 14-year-old twins Emme and Max, and stepmom to Ben’s three kids, Violet, 16, Seraphina, 13, and Samuel, 10. “And they will call bullshit on stuff really quick,” the Shotgun Wedding actress also said.
Jennifer, who shares her twins with ex-husband Marc Anthony, went on to share her hopes for her children in the Vogue interview, which was published the day of the 2022 Midterm Elections. “I want my kids to stand up for themselves and the things they care about,” she said. “I want all the little girls in the world to get loud. Get loud! Say it when it’s wrong. Don’t be afraid. I was afraid for a long time: afraid to not get the job, to piss people off, afraid that people wouldn’t like me. No.”
The “Love Don’t Cost A Thing” hitmaker explained how she’s found her own voice in politics over the years, after being hesitant to share her opinions when she first became famous.
“Early in my career people would ask about politics, but I always felt like people didn’t really want to hear from an actor or somebody who sang pop songs,” Jennifer explained. “Like a shut-up-and-dance kind of situation. I didn’t have the confidence, and I didn’t want to make a mistake. But you get to a point in your life where you realize, if something’s wrong, you say it. If you’re not doing something about it then you’re kind of complicit.”
J.Lo continued, “Whether it was kids in cages, or kids getting shot in the street by police—all these things where it was just like, What the hell is going on around here? When did we lose our way? There were so many awful, ugly attitudes coming to light. It was really sad because it didn’t need to be political. It was about being a good person, loving your neighbor, all the things that people say they stand for but then they don’t practice because somebody’s not the same as them or somebody has a different sexual orientation or gender identity or a different race. It’s like, Really? You can’t just do you? You can’t just be you and be happy and let somebody else be happy too?”
J.Lo has always been politically active and notably stumped for Democratic candidates like Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton in past elections. As her and Ben’s kids get older, they’ll probably get more and more involved in politics. “Bennifer” should be so proud!
