As rumors continue to swirl about the state of her marriage to Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez was photographed flying – gasp – commercial and seated in coach for a trip from Italy to France.
The tabloids just so happened to get the snaps of the songstress cozying up in a window seat on an Air France flight over the weekend. The plebeian plane ride came on the heels of JLo snapping selfies of her derriere on a yacht in Italy sans Affleck.
On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Maureen Callahan, author of Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed, to discuss the media narrative around Lopez and why Americans appear to be over it.
Economy Comforts
TMZ obtained photos and videos of Lopez on an Air France flight on Saturday from Naples to Paris. “She was on almost like a puddle jumper in Europe,” Callahan explained. “It’s like an hour-long flight between countries and somebody gets a picture of JLo looking downward and seated in coach.”
In the pics, the 54 year old was on the window and her large handbag could be seen occupying the middle seat. According to reports, she was traveling with a bodyguard who was seated on the aisle. There was apparently no business class on the short flight, which was transporting her to Paris Fashion Week.
The headlines came quickly and suggested Lopez was ‘returning to her roots’ amid her alleged marital woes and tour cancellation. Callahan wasn’t buying it. “She’s just ‘Jenny from the Block.’ She’s trying to be like us – not trying to unload a $60 million mansion and navigate a divorce while we all know she’s like frantically trying to line up her next victim because she cannot be single for a single second,” she said. “We have to all participate in this delusion that Jenny’s just this dewy little starlet and not a thrice divorced mother of two.”
Staged Selfies
The ‘Jenny from the Cabin’ pics, as TMZ dubbed them, came on the heels of JLo taking a solo trip to Italy where – surprise, surprise – the paparazzi was present. Photogs caught the singer taking pictures of herself in a plunging white swimsuit on the back of a yacht. At one point, she was seen taking pictures of her rear end.
Megyn continues to believe, if history is any indication, this whole media blitz is by design. “When she and [Alex Rodriguez] broke up, he was cheating on her… and within about two minutes she was back with Ben Affleck and completely changed the news narrative,” she concluded. “I’m convinced she got back together with Ben Affleck to get rid of those [cheating] headlines; then she was forced to marry the guy; and, shock of all shocks, it’s not working out, so now the PR campaign is back into gear.”
Callahan agreed but said the ‘la dolce vita’ photoshoot was a new low. “This woman is maybe 13 years old emotionally,” she surmised. “Like, your marriage is in patters; every project you’ve put out this year has failed; you had to cancel your tour because when you reduce your tickets to $9 Americans still don’t want any part of you; you vamoose to Italy to lick your wounds; you’re in one of the most beautiful places on earth and what do you? You take out your cell phone to shoot pictures of your own ass. Are you kidding me?”
Keeping Up With… JLo?
While Affleck has plenty of his own baggage, Megyn doesn’t think it is a coincidence that there have been a steady stream of unflattering stories about him as of late. “She was just fine with marrying him, but now that it’s going south, he must be destroyed,” Megyn explained. “We’re seeing all the articles leaked about how he’s mean, he’s sourpussed, she’s done all she can but he’s just too unhappy and unlikable to save, so she’s really got to move on now.”
If the rumors about their relationship are true, Megyn said it will be “yet another failed marriage” for JLo but she seems to be trying to shift the blame. “She’s trying to dump it all on the guy. She is taking no responsibility,” she noted. “I’m sorry, I have zero respect for this person. I see what she’s doing with the tabloid press, and America’s too smart to fall for this.”
Ultimately, Megyn thinks Lopez is destined for a new direction. “She’s failing. She’s failing in all of her professional lanes,” she concluded. “The only weird way she’s not failing is she’s got a huge social media following, so she is reinventing herself as a Kardashian.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Callahan by tuning in to episode 822 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.