Jennifer Lopez reflected on her relationship with her mother, Lupe, in her new Netflix documentary, “Halftime.”
The documentary, which premiered Tuesday, focuses on Lopez’s career, from leaving home at 18 to performing at President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
At one point, the “Let’s Get Loud” singer and her mother Guadalupe Rodriguez, who also appeared in the film said they used to argue a lot.
“She did what she had to do to survive, and it made her strong, but it also made her tough,” Lopez said. “She beat the shit out of us.”
She added: “I was surrounded by a lot of strong women. My mom is a super complicated woman and she carries a lot of baggage, she wanted us to be independent and never have to rely on a man.”
Lopez left home at the age of 18 after a series of disagreements with her mother about her future plans.
JLo admitted that she wasn’t paying attention in class because she was distracted by dancing, which caused friction between her mother and daughter.
“My mom was like, ‘If you’re going to live in this house, you’re going to get your education,'” Lopez said. “We got into a bad fight one night and I just left.”
Lopez and Rodriguez have since mended their relationship.
“I was far from the perfect mother. The one thing I can always say, everything I did, I did with their best interest at heart,” Rodriguez said.
“I always had the highest expectations of them. It wasn’t to be critical. It was only to show you that you could do better,” she continued, referring to daughters Jennifer, Leslie, and Lynda, whom she shares with ex-husband David Lopez.
“Jennifer, she gave me the hardest time, to tell you the truth. We butted heads a lot.”
“Halftime” also shows Lopez’s reactions to her Oscars and Golden Globes snubs in 2020, as well as her thoughts about coheadlining the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show with Shakira.
Lopez said in the documentary that it was the “worst idea in the world” to have two artists headline the event.
