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Since the announcement of her former boyfriend Puff Daddy’s troubles and her ill-fated album and documentary, Jennifer López has been receiving a barrage of hate and vicious snipes.

The singer and film star has been picked apart and relentlessly criticised particular by Gen Zers who voice their disapproval on both YouTube and Tik Tok.

It’s difficult to find too much wrong with a grown woman who wants to celebrate her love and devotion to a rekindled flame whom she has now married.

Perhaps these self-funded projects could be viewed as a bit schmaltzy but to be so mercilessly torn apart, one could be forgiven to think this is orchestrated

To those who say Jennifer López is not relevant, let’s not brush over that she has enjoyed a career as a dancer, singer and film star for close on 25 years, selling around 85 million records with 17 billion streams world wide.

She enjoys the enviable position of once having both the Number One Album and the Number One movie at the same time. There is little doubt that Jennifer López is a hard working performer. She has not been critically acclaimed but she has been a cultural force.

At 54, she doesn’t have to get up on stage and strut her stuff like in years of yore. She does it for the love of the performance.

One may agree that she is no longer Jenny from the Block, the fly girl from Brooklyn but rather a multi-millionaire global superstar far removed from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Younger people have no recollection of Jennifer López.There are those of us who danced to her tunes in the clubs of the 90s and early 00s. Her collaborations with Jah Rule and LL Cool became anthemic. She was a massive R&B/pop star, up there with the likes of Mary J Blige, Mariah Carey. Missy Elliott and TLC.

Yes, times change and so to do tastes but why such hate?

Jennifer López has had a career as long as Elvis Presley and was the first global Latina pop star, opening the door for those that followed. It’s not the case that she is trying too hard to be relevant but rather she wants to present where she is today, hence the title “ This Is Me Now”.

She is at a place of contentment – a mother, a wife, a more than two decade career which straddles three art forms, a businesswoman. It has been quite the journey.

If you go on the internet now and punch in JLO, she is portrayed as a narcissist and a study in self-aggrandisement.

People who have encountered her, worked with her have only disparaging things to say. Why?

Her image is distorted to make her look unattractive. It really is a hit job and must make her recoil despite having to put a brave face on this tide of vitriol.

Jennifer López is known for her romcoms but she has demonstrated she has acting chops and can stand out in well written dramas. She was fantastic in Out of Sight (1998) Hustlers (2019), The Cell (2000) and Blood and Wine (1996).

Although she has done well with comedic lighter roles, she is capable of pivoting to more serious parts that can showcase her dramatic talent. Jennifer Lopez is very attractive but she doesn’t have to rely on her looks to carry a movie. Here she can take a leaf from her good friend Jane Fonda who has been attractive for decades but her talent and versatility is what sets her apart and will be her abiding legacy.

Her tour, movie and album project is not a full stop on her career, rather it is a comma. There is a lot more in the tank and Jennifer Lopez must have the confidence to believe that.

There is talk that her manager Benny Medina and those who work with her would like her to cancel the tour due to the negative press and poor ticket sales. I say press on and put on knockout shows that create demand.

If Jlo shows are fantastic, it will create buzz and attract audiences. She has a catalogue of work, she can dance and her choreographed sets are spectacular. It has to be a case of self-believe and as the late Queen Elizabeth II is quoted as saying, “ Keep calm and carry on”.

The Tik Tok and YouTube Gen Z brigade are piling on and have been most unkind. However many of them are living in their parents basement, have no money and live vicariously through Instagram. Their parents who now have net worth, assets and disposable income remember Jennifer Lopez. They know the tunes, remember the sexy videos. Lopez can create performances by layering on her new material. She must go out there for the love of performing with the attitude “ This is me now”.

Elvis took the decision to reinvent himself and turned to new material. It was a bold and courage move by an iconic performer known for predictable recordings. JLO does not have the vocal gifts of Mariah Carey or Adele but she has presence, energy and can get audiences dancing.

Some say she should focus on Las Vegas style residences and make her back catalogue her act. That is insulting to any artist and she should not entertain that..

There are not many artists today that are triple threats-dancer, singer, actor-Jlo is still all that.

She is at the stage now where she doesn’t have to go chasing sales and accolades-been there, done that and did it well.

When one goes through the recent myriad of gripes about JLO, more often than not it is some lowly worker who say the star forgot to say please or thank you, or refused to give them undivided attention over some incident years ago. I for one don’t get the impression that Jennifer Lopez is an ill-tempered, insufferable, bad-mannered diva who shows no appreciation for the common folk.

That’s a narrative spun to deliberately diminish her.

Perhaps like many of us she has her moments.

On Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12, we sought to get an insight into Jennifer Lopez, who she is, what matters to her, who she holds dearest one should read her X post.

To her children it reads: “ Thank you for giving me the privilege and gift to be your mother. The most beautiful blessing of my life. Everyday I wake up and think what can I do to be a better mother to you. I ask God to instinctually let me be able to feel what you need in every moment so I can guide you.”

To her mother Guadalupe, JLO writes: “ Happy Mother’s Day to my Mommy. As the years go by I realise more and more the sacrifices you made of yourself and your dreams give us the opportunity and strength to live our own. I love you and accept you for who you are.

“I appreciate all the songs you sang and the dancing in the living room and all the stories you told where I would hang on every word and then cry from laughter at how you told them. Thank you for the joy that you instilled in me. Your resilience and fearlessness lives within my bones and I am forever grateful for the beautiful times and also for the inevitable difficult times as well. They make up our life and our relationship and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love you just the way you are. Forever Jennifer.

That would bring tears to any mother’s eyes. Considering she didn’t approve of her daughter’s chosen career path, she must be very proud of what she went on to achieve through grit, determination and hard work, probably inherited from her.

Jennifer Lopez’s latest work which consists of an album, documentary and movie gives an account of where she is now. Now in her fifties, she has had a successful career that has spanned decades, she is a mother, she is married to a reconnected love, her parents are still here, her siblings are doing well, she heads businesses – most of us would be very happy with that in mid life. Lopez has chosen to celebrate that and why not.

With all the Tik Tokers spewing hate, will they ever get close to that accomplishment?