The Oscars were still so white for 2020’s slate of nominees, with the most glaring omission arguably being Jennifer Lopez’s work as a prolific stripper (and foxy scammer) in the female gaze-y Hustlers. Likely being that she had a performance of a lifetime to prepare for in the weeks following the nominee announcement, J.Lo never commented on the acting snub, only now choosing to weigh in during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. “I was a little sad,” Lopez told the crowd at Winfrey’s 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus tour, per Billboard. “There were so many articles, I got so many good notices — more than ever in my career — and there was a lot of ‘she’s going to get nominated for an Oscar, it’s going to happen. If she doesn’t get it, you’re crazy.’ I’m reading all the articles going, ‘Oh my God, could this happen?’ And then it didn’t and I was like ‘Ouch.’”
Lopez added that she also felt a profound sense of disappointment toward the people in her inner circle, who have been her support system since the beginning of her superstar ascension. “Most of my team has been with me for years, 20, 25 years,” J.Lo explained, “and I think they had a lot of hopes on that and they wanted it too, so I felt like I let everyone down a little bit.” Laura Dern would go on to win this year’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar for all of the manic, well-dressed lawyer energy she brought to Marriage Story.