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Jennifer Lopez has been a part of Hollywood for quite some time now. Having tried her hand at everything, she has become an iconic singer and a well-known actress. Best known for songs likeAin’t Your Mama, On The Floor,andLet’s Get Loud,as well as movies likeThe Mother,Maid in Manhattan, Selena,andThe Boy Next Door,she has truly become an integral part of popular culture. Being as successful as she is, it is only natural that she has had her moments of controversy every now and then in her career.
One that stuck out, however, was the time the actress was called out for cultural appropriation. While in the past, she has been called out for using racial slurs, this had more to do with what she was calling herself. Did Lopez refer to herself as a “Black girl from the Bronx”?
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Did Jennifer Lopez really Appropriate Black Culture?
In 2020,Jennifer Lopez, released a song with the Colombian singer, Maluma. The track was calledLonelyand received quite a lot of attention. While a majority of it was from fans of both the singers, some negative light was inevitable. There were quite a few fans who were upset at Lopez for one lyric that they claimed was cultural appropriation on her part.
@JLo👏🏽you are not a black girl from the Bronx 👏🏽you are a white hispanic not black👏🏽 stop appropriating Black Culture👏🏽#JLoxMaluma
— Araliza torres🇺🇲♀️🇷🇺🅉 (@torres_araliza)June 11, 2025
The Latina singer mentioned a lyric in the song, “Siempre serás tu negrita del Bronx.”, which translates to “I’ll always be your Black girl from the Bronx”. Naturally, many listeners were upset by this. One was their opinions onTwitter,stating that this lyric was extremely odd, considering the actress is not of African-American descent. they added that she is a White Hispanic and not a Black woman, which made this lyric very odd.
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Fans Came Out In Her Support
It is safe to say that a majority of people shared a similar sentiment when it came to the song and this specific lyric. Despite this there were fans of Jennifer Lopez, who defended her, claiming that the entire controversy was a big misunderstanding. Some mentioned that the word many were thinking of, “Black girl”, was actually translated to “Your girl/baby”.
Negrita doesn’t mean completely black girl. This is Latinos speaking, get your crystal like life and go fuck around somewhere else#jloxmaluma
— maui (@MikeRocu)June 18, 2025
They added it was actually a term of endearment and not appropriation. Fans were even saying that this entire controversy and criticism that Lopez was receiving, was a reach at the very best. While many added that they were completely against appropriation of any kind, this simply wasn’t Lopez’s intention.
Ananya Godboley
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2219
Ananya Godboley is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on TV shows, with over 2,000 articles published. She has been an entertainment journalist for the past two years. Currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in psychology from K.R. Mangalam University, Ananya also likes to fangirl as a full-time job. She covers news and analyses on anything from Rick and Morty to Hannibal and even Arcane. In between these lines, she also enjoys superheroes and Taylor Swift.A philosophy enthusiast, Ananya enjoys digging deeper into the media she consumes, trying to understand the root of her favorite characters' behavior.
