Fans of Jennifer Lopez, eager to get her autograph, were reportedly left disappointed last weekend when she’s said to have abruptly ended a signing after someone in the crowd asked her about Sean “Diddy” Combs, her long-ago ex-boyfriend, and the sex trafficking allegations against him.
Lopez had been attending a screening and Q&A for her new film, “Unstoppable,” at AFI Fest 2024 in Los Angeles, the Mirror US reported. The screening took place on Saturday, and the college sports drama was produced by Lopez’s estranged husband, Ben Affleck, and his production company with Matt Damon.
But during an autograph event for “Unstoppable,” Lopez faced an uncomfortable question about another famous ex, the Mirror said. As the singer and actor was attempting to greet fans, someone in the crowd asked, “J. Lo, do you have any comments about P. Diddy and the allegations?”
Lopez immediately stopped signing autographs, The Mirror reported. She and her team began to move away from the crowd. People in the crowd called after her, “Don’t leave,” but she headed out the door, “out of sight,” The Mirror said.
This uncomfortable moment comes as Lopez is in the process of divorcing Affleck. Meanwhile, she continues to remain silent about the disturbing sexual assault allegations against Combs, whom she dated from 1999 to 2001. The music mogul and Bad Boy Records founder has been locked up in federal detention since September and faces trial on sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges.
377894 22: (FILE PHOTO) Jennifer Lopez and Sean “Puffy” Combs arrive for the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards September 7, 2000 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. On Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2001, Combs” spokesperson announced that Lopez and Combs were no longer a couple. The announced confirmed months of speculation over demise of the superstars” relationship. (Photo by George De Sota/Newsmakers)
Combs also has been hit with more than 20 lawsuits from women and men, who claim that he and his alleged accomplices sexually assaulted them when they attended his infamous parties.
Lopez has faced scrutiny over her relationship with Combs since his Sept. 16 arrest. Allegations in the lawsuits cover incidents that began in the 1990s and continued through 2022, with some allegedly taking place during the time that Lopez and Combs were a high-flying celebrity couple.
Perhaps most uncomfortable for Lopez are the allegations that came in a federal lawsuit filed last week. A 37-year-old woman alleges that, as a 13-year-old girl, she was sexually assaulted by Combs — with the help of an unnamed male and female celebrity — at a party the mogul hosted after the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. While the lawsuit didn’t identify Combs’ alleged celebrity accomplices, Lopez was Combs’ date for the 2000 VMAs, and she won the award that September night for best dance video.
This week, recently unearthed photos were published in the Daily Mail, purporting to show Lopez and Combs attending a star-studded afterparty for the 2000 VMAs. The awards ceremony took place on Sept. 7, 2000 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, while the afterparty was held at the now-defunct Lotus nightclub.
The photos show Lopez and Combs in a heated confrontation, with Lopez appearing to yell at the rapper, the Daily Mail said. A guest at the party told the Daily Mail that the spat ended with Combs making an exit from the nightclub with his entourage and a group of women.
The alleged assault on the 13-year-old girl apparently occurred later that night at a house. The Daily Mail said that the timing of the assault adds “a troubling layer” to the evening’s events and raises questions about the dynamics of Lopez and Combs’ relationship, during a time now overshadowed by serious allegations.
In 1999, Lopez became embroiled in another criminal controversy involving Combs. They were arrested in December of that year while fleeing a Manhattan nightclub after a shooting, which left three people injured. Combs was put on trial in 2001 for the shooting, and Lopez testified, but Combs was acquitted by a jury.
Over the years, Lopez hasn’t said too much about her relationship with Combs, though she described it as “tempestuous” and “emotionally exhausting” towards the end. She also said they broke up “many times,” would get back together, then break up again.
Lopez’s first husband, Ojani Noa, whom the mega-star met and married just as her career was taking off, has recently blamed Combs for the breakup of their marriage in 1998 after 11 months.
In an interview with Univision, Noa, a Cuban immigrant who met Lopez while working as a waiter in Miami, said, “Part of that divorce was Diddy’s fault.”
“When Sony came and paid her the millions she got, there was Puffy (Combs), who was going to be one of the producers of several tracks on (her) first album, ‘On The 6,’” Noa told the outlet in Spanish, according to Page Six. “That’s where the deception, the lies, the separation started.”