The Wild Story Behind How A JLo Music Video Caused Sterling K. Brown And His Wife To Temporarily Break Up: ‘She Bounced Out’

Sterling K. Brown in Paradise and JLo in Marry Me
(Image credit: Hulu/ Universal Pictures)

Actress Jennifer Lopez has had a long and wildly successful career as an actress and global pop star. And while JLo and Ben Affleck's relationship made countless headlines, it turns out that she was unwittingly involved in Sterling K. Brown's early relationship with his wife Ryan Michelle Bathe. And it relates to one of her iconic music videos.

While JLo's This Is Me... Now brought visuals for her new music to life for those with an Amazon Prime subscription, her classic music videos were wildly popular. While appearing on The Graham Norton Show, actor Sterling K. Brown recalled a time when Lopez caused a fight (and breakup) when he was dating his wife. In his words:

As a young man, what you learn is if you’re enjoying what you’re seeing with your young girlfriend next to you, change the G.D. channel, because you’re not gon’ win this one. So, in trying not to have a reaction, Graham, knowing that my wife is like over my face watching me watch JLo and trying to be deadpan, all of a sudden, my eyes begin to water. My wife sees my eyes watering, and she says ‘Are you crying over JLo?’ And I say, ‘I’m not crying, my eyes are watering because I know you’re looking for a reaction and I’m trying not to give you a reaction.' And she left.

Uh oh. Honestly, can you blame him though? Whether it's "Love Don't Cost A Thing", "Waiting For Tonight" or "Get Right", Jennifer Lopez has released a number of glorious music videos. And the reaction from many is to stare with full attention as she sings, dances, and sometimes plays multiple characters.

Unfortunately, Sterling K. Brown's then-girlfriend wasn't a big fan of how the star of Paradise (which is streaming with a Hulu subscription) welled up while watching Jenny From The Block. As he continued:

She bounced out, and we wound up breaking up for like over a year.

Ouch. While Jennifer Lopez is known for her high profile relationships, it's wild to think about the way she somehow influenced Brown's relationship with Bathe. Luckily there is a happy ending at the end of this tale, which is probably why the This Is Us star was comfortable sharing it on Graham Norton. As he concluded:

It all worked out, we’ve been married for 19 years, two kids, it’s solid.

Sometimes absence makes the heart grow fonder, so perhaps that was the case with Brown's temporary break-up from his future wife. They're still together after all these years, and have a family together. You can watch the Emmy-winning actor recall this story below:

Sterling K. Brown Loves J.Lo, Professionally... | The Graham Norton Show - YouTube Sterling K. Brown Loves J.Lo, Professionally... | The Graham Norton Show - YouTube
Watch On

While Sterling K. Brown's performances in TV and film are consistently great, he's also endlessly charismatic in interviews. This clip is just one funny example, showing how he seemingly doesn't take himself too seriously.

Both Jennifer Lopez and Sterling K. Brown continue to work consistently, and now I kind of want to see them share the screen together. I mean, it would be quite the ending to this anecdote. Unfortunately they aren't being paired in this way for anything on the 2025 movie release list.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more. 

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