For a long time it was an open secret in Hollywood, as it was in many other places, that men in positions of power were using that power to take advantage of women. Recently, however, there has been an increase in the attention drawn to these experiences, which has hopefully helped keep them from happening.
Jennifer Lopez is certainly a star in Hollywood and has the power and influence that comes with that, but that wasn't always the case. The actress has revealed that on one of her movies, the director asked her to remove her top for him prior to shooting a scene.
In a round table interview with several other prominent actresses, like Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong'o and Awkwafina, Lopez explained that while she was being fitted for a costume, the director came in and asked her to remove her top. While certainly shocked by the request, Lopez was able to say no...
And I said no, I stood up for myself. But it was so funny because I remember being so panicked in the moment. And by the way, there was a costume designer in the room with me. So there was another woman in the room and he says this and I said no. Luckily a little bit of the Bronx came out, and I was like, ‘I don't have to show you my — No. On the set, you see them.’
The movie in question was one in which Jennifer Lopez was set to have a nude scene, which was apparently the pretext for the request from the director. While the actress knew she was going to do nudity in the movie, that didn't mean she was comfortable just doing it next to the costume designer.
Jennifer Lopez has only done nudity in a few of her films, so it would seem that the list of movies where this may have happened is fairly short. Although, Lopez says in the THR interview that she was "supposed to do nudity in the movie" which makes it sound like perhaps the nudity didn't end up happening.
The actress doesn't name the director in question. Although, Scarlett Johansson does try to get her to name names. It's possible she may have done so off the record. Lopez does say that the director later apologized.
This is far from the first time we've heard stories like this, and in many cases they don't end in the way that this one did. The actresses involved in this interview hope that, because some light has been shone on this sort of behavior, it's happening far less often, and the women that are dealing with it hopefully feel more empowered to respond to it it in the way Jennifer Lopez did when it does take place.
