Jennifer Lopez made a veiled criticism of her ex-husband Marc Anthony during her appearance on the SmartLess podcast, revealing that she mostly raised their twin children on her own and received very little help during that process.
The statements emerged while the 56-year-old singer and actress was celebrating the academic achievements of her children Oskar (formerly known as Emme) and Max Muñiz, who are 18 years old and were accepted into all the universities they applied to, receiving scholarships to continue their studies.
"My two children were accepted into all the universities they wanted to attend. They both received scholarships and are going where they wanted," Lopez expressed with evident pride on the show hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett.
It was in that moment of satisfaction when she uttered the phrase that ignited the media: “It's just that… I thought: 'You did it all by yourself. You had very little help.'”
Although Lopez did not mention the Puerto Rican singer by name, the reference was widely interpreted as a direct nod to her ex-husband, with whom she shares custody of the twins since their divorce was formalized in 2014.
The comment arrived at a particularly sensitive moment: weeks earlier, Marc Anthony was notably absent from Oskar's graduation at the Windward School in Los Angeles, which took place around the first of June, where the young man was publicly introduced for the first time with that name.
At that ceremony, Lopez was indeed present along with her mother Guadalupe Rodríguez, Max Muñiz, and Samuel Affleck, the son of actor Ben Affleck.
Days later, the singer was also not seen at Max's graduation, and he did not post any congratulatory messages on social media for either of the two ceremonies.
The contrast is striking because, during those same weeks, Marc Anthony actively participated in family events with his current wife, the Paraguayan model Nadia Ferreira: he celebrated the baby shower for the girl they are expecting together —who will be his eighth child— and attended the birthday party of Marquitos, Ferreira's firstborn, who turned three on June 12.
It's not the first time that Lopez has spoken about how difficult that period of her life was. Last March, during a presentation in Las Vegas, the artist broke down in tears while recalling that time and confessed to being on the verge of a breakdown.
"It was actually a very difficult time. I was about to give up. I mean, I was a single mother with three-year-old twins," she said then.
On that occasion, she also remembered the advice given to her by her late friend, the writer Louise Hay: "Always keep dancing," a phrase she described as her personal life guide.
Oskar Muñiz has been accepted into Sarah Lawrence College to study theater and visual arts starting in the fall of 2026, while Marc Anthony and Nadia Ferreira are preparing to welcome their second child together, which will further expand the singer's large family.
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