Jennifer Lopez is known for her fair share of pop culture moments that will go down in history — who could forget the green dress?
But it turns out she could have another one of those moments under her belt if she plays her cards right.
in A recent interview with E! News To promote her new movie “Shotgun Wedding,” Lopez revealed that she was originally asked to be a part of Madonna and Britney Spears’ iconic moment at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.
Madonna originally approached Jennifer Lopez to be part of the VMA’s Kiss with Britney Spears.
Lopez claimed she had to turn down the opportunity to join the performance due to other professional commitments.
Fans will remember the infamous moment in pop culture history when Madonna kissed both Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera during a performance of “Like a Virgin.”
In an homage to Madonna’s ’80s style, Britney and Christina wore mini wedding dresses, pearl necklaces, and lace fingerless gloves during the duet.
Madonna wore a tuxedo, popping out of a giant wedding cake to sing her hit “Hollywood.”
According to Lopez, she was actually the first choice to join Britney and Madonna’s VMA kiss.
Lopez told E! News. “And then, I couldn’t make it out of the movie, and so, we couldn’t do that.”
“We talked about it,” Lopez continued, regarding her role in Kiss. “I love Madonna. I’m a huge fan. I always have been.”
When Lopez refused, her position was filled by performer Christina Aguilera, who was also accepted by Madonna.
More focus in the media has been on Britney and Madonna’s kiss than on the kiss between Christina and Madonna.
When Madonna kissed Britney, the camera panned to Justin Timberlake, meaning Christina’s kiss was cut short for viewers at home.
Christina told Andy Cohen 2018 interview This “was weird. They cut to get Justin’s reaction.”
Speaking to that moment, Christina stated “It was a cheap shot… I definitely saw the newspaper the next day, and it was like ‘Well, I guess I’m left out of that. ‘” “
The early stages were a particularly difficult time for LGBT representation in the mainstream media.
Not surprisingly, a kiss between three famous women made major publicity waves.
But looking at the kiss 20 years later, it’s clear that the stunt was just a stunt staged to pique viewers’ interest.
Even focusing on Timberlake’s reaction to the kiss is a sign of the ingrained misogyny and homophobia of the situation, as if the kiss itself wasn’t as important as the man’s response to it.
This message reinforced the supposed importance of the male gaze, rather than the value of a kiss between the three stars.
If the kiss happened now, the stars would likely be accused of queerbait seduction and using perversion for publicity.
While there’s always more work to be done around inclusivity and representation, it’s nice to know we’ve come a long way from straight people appropriating queerness for their own benefit.
Alexandra Blogier is a writer on the news and entertainment team at YourTango. She covers celebrity gossip, pop culture analysis, and everything related to the entertainment industry.