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It goes without saying that if you even glance at Jennifer Lopez walking down the street on a bad day, she’s still going to look like an utter ageless goddess. Whatever that woman is doing, it’s working. Keeping that in mind, drag queen and dancer who appeared on season 18 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Mia Starr, spoke out on a recent episode of fellow Drag Race star, Mistress Isabelle Brooks’ YouTube series about dancing alongside Shakira for Jennifer Lopez’s Super Bowl halftime show in 2020. Mia shared that Jennifer made her feel less than stellar about her body during rehearsals and it’s not something she’s likely to forget about anytime soon.
Mia Starr recalls a time she was called out for her body by none other than Jennifer Lopez.
When you’re a professional dancer slash performer and you get the call that you’re going to perform on stage alongside Jennifer Lopez and Shakira, it probably feels like one of the most exciting career opportunities. It’s really too bad it didn’t turn out that way, though.
Mia Starr, recently opened up to fellow Drag Race alum, Mistress Isabelle Brooks, in a conversation shared on YouTube. Sadly, Mia shared that one of the “worst experiences” of her career was working with Jennifer Lopez on her halftime show in 2020. Mia was hired to dance during the portion of the show where Jennifer brought Shakira out.
During their conversation, Mia shared that it was on the second day of rehearsals when things took a turn. Jennifer showed up to rehearsals and asked her to disrobe and take her shirt off. “She’s like, ‘Can you take off your shirt?’ I’m like, f—. I take off my shirt, and she makes this face, followed by, ‘Guys, I need you to elevate yourselves. I need you to go to the gym and take care of yourself,” Mia said.
Mia shared how she felt like Jennifer basically hazed the dancers during rehearsals.
Mia Starr went on to share that she felt super uncomfortable during a long rehearsal after she was asked to take her shirt off. “She then made us rehearse for nine hours shirtless. So, as I’m dancing, I’m jiggling the f— out of the entire nine hours. It was, like, a hazing. I was like, why am I here? Why am I doing this to myself?” she said.
Mia couldn’t help but laugh as she recalled an incident with Jennifer the next day of halftime show rehearsals. Apparently, everyone was offered some elephant ears and ice cream, which in case you don’t know, elephant ears are a super indulgent and delicious dessert made of deep-fried dough covered in sugar. They’re super yummy, but not exactly low in calories.
Mia decided to be the first person in that line to get her treat and she was pretty sure that Jennifer “hated [her]” for it. “I was the first person in line. I was being petty. I was like, ‘Thank you.’ And then she looked at me and gave, ‘Guys, I need you to elevate yourself,'” she said. That’s actually pretty funny. We don’t blame her for indulging because who doesn’t love a good elephant ear?
The comments are divided on whether Jennifer was in the wrong or if Mia really did need to ‘elevate’ herself.
Was the performer extraordinaire in the wrong here when it comes to commenting on her dancers’ bodies? Some people in the YouTube comments weren’t really feeling her general attitude towards a crew of people that she was supposed to motivate and inspire for their performance. One person wrote, “J-lo is such a nobhead lol.” Another person jumped to Mia Starr’s defense by sharing, “Ew J-Lo tffff how dare you disrespect our Mia that way.”
There were also a few Instagram comments Mistress Isabelle Brooks post that shared those same sentiments. One person wrote, “Should of asked her to elevate her vocals and sing live.” Ouch. Not a kind thing to say about someone performing at the Super Bowl. Another person shared, “I’ve never heard a single person say a good thing about J.Lo.”
On the other side of things, there were a number of comments jumping to Jennifer’s defense when it came to this interaction. One person wrote, “It sounds like you’re framing it as if doing the Super Bowl was a favor, when it’s actually a big opportunity most dancers would love.” That is true. Dancing during a Super Bowl halftime show is a big deal for any professional dancer. Another person commented that Jennifer Lopez can totally say what she wants about her dancers because she’s about as toned as they come. “Look at her body. She can say that. Dancers were contracted to be how she wanted,” they wrote.
What do you think? Would you consider it the ultimate motivator to be insulted about your body by Jennifer Lopez because you know that she works super hard to achieve those otherworldly abs at 56 years old? Or was it just plain rude?
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