Jennifer Lopez has revealed her mother used to ‘beat the s**t’ out of her before she left home at 18 to pursue a career in acting.
The Second Act star, 52, spoke candidly about her complicated relationship with mum Guadalupe Rodriguez, 76, and revealed she would get into physical bouts with herself and her sisters Leslie and Lynda.
Speaking in her Halftime documentary, Jennifer said: ‘She did what she had to do to survive, and it made her strong, but it also made her tough. She beat the s*** out of us.’
Candid: Jennifer Lopez has revealed her mother Guadalupe Rodriguez used to ‘beat the s**t’ out of her before she left home at 18 to pursue a career in acting (pictured together in 2018)
She added: ‘I was surrounded by a lot of strong women. My mum 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.’
Later on she continued: ‘My mum was like, “If you’re gonna live in this house, you’re gonna get your education”. We got into a bad fight one night and I just left.’
Former school worker Guadalupe confirmed the pair ‘butted heads a lot’ and admits she was ‘far from the perfect mother’, but insisted that she had her girls’ ‘best interest at heart’.
Childhood: Jennifer spoke candidly about her complicated childhood in her new Netflix documentary, Halftime (pictured as a child)
She explained: ‘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.
‘Jennifer, she gave me the hardest time, to tell you the truth. We butted heads a lot.
‘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.’
Elsewhere in the documentary, Jennifer – who is mother to 14-year-old twins Max and Emme – revealed she nearly quit showbiz after she was mocked over her curvy bum.
The On The Floor hitmaker was propelled to fame at a time when the celebrity body ideal was super-skinny and said not fitting the mould contributed to pushing her to the verge of giving up her dreams.
Struggle: Elsewhere in the documentary, Jennifer – who is mother to 14-year-old twins Max and Emme – revealed she nearly quit showbiz after she was mocked over her curvy bum
She said: ‘There were many times where I was just like, ‘I think I’m just going to quit’. I had to really figure out who I was. And believe in that and not believe in anything else.
‘When I started working, the beauty ideal was very thin, blonde, tall, not a lot of curves. I grew up around women with curves so it was nothing I was ever ashamed of.
‘It was hard, when you think people think you’re a joke – like a punchline. But it wound up affecting things in a way that I never intended.’
Jennifer added her fiancé Ben Affleck was shocked at the body scrutiny she was under, but she said she expected it as she was a female Latina.
The 49-year-old actor revealed in the film: ‘I said to her once, “Doesn’t this bother you?” And she said, “I’m Latina, I’m a woman, I expected this.”‘
Shocked: Jennifer added her fiancé Ben Affleck was shocked at the body scrutiny she was under, but she said she expected it as she was a female Latina