Benny Medina talked about your relationships and hinted that you might have chosen the wrong men. Do you agree with him?
No, the thing with those articles is that they often take things out of context. Benny is my best friend, and I know him well. Some reports claim that Benny, the show’s producer, not only convinced Will Smith to join but also tried the same approach with MC Shan. Unlike Will, who stayed quiet about the hurdles he faced, Shan spoke openly about the requests Benny allegedly made.
What did you learn from your relationship with Sean?
It was a very productive relationship, despite some bad press. We went through some very tough times together, and I learned a lot about the music business from him. I also learned personal lessons. I usually don’t talk much about it, but the experience helped me grow and understand what I wanted.
Jennifer Lopez is having a rough year. Her movie flopped, her tour got canceled, TikTok is calling her the rudest celebrity, and now she’s having marriage problems with Ben Affleck. It seems like every time JLo’s name trends, it’s for another setback. On top of this, new reports suggest she used her connections with Tommy Mottola and Benny Medina to escape Diddy and cover up her alleged involvement in his crimes. Some sources say JLo avoided Cassie’s fate because these two helped her leave Diddy without any consequences.
However, many people now feel no sympathy for JLo, alleging she not only helped Diddy in the 1999 nightclub shooting incident but also hated Diddy’s ex, Kim Porter, and stayed silent about Diddy’s behavior for years. Recently, JLo was seen with Benny Medina amid rumors of her separating from Ben Affleck. Benny has supported JLo through every breakup since the ’90s and is reportedly the only man she’s loyal to. However, Benny also faces numerous allegations, including claims of sexually assaulting multiple young actors.
Rumors have been flying for years that Benny pressured Will Smith into doing certain favors in exchange for the starring role in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Then rapper MC Shan, who was also in the running for the role, revealed that Benny blackballed him for refusing to go along with Benny’s demands, which is why the role ended up going to Will Smith.
“I know Benny Medina is that kind of dude,” said MC Shan. “I was up for that role. People are saying whatever they want about him now, but I know what happened with Tevin Campbell. Tevin Campbell was a nice kid when I met him, and next thing you know…”
This kind of allegation makes it tough for fans to sympathize with Jennifer Lopez. Despite all these troubling claims, JLo has stuck by Benny Medina, just like she’s remained close with Diddy over the years. Some fans argue she’s not innocent either, saying she cozied up to these problematic men for her own benefit, all while throwing other women under the bus.
So, what’s really going on with JLo and Benny Medina? Is JLo a victim in all of this, or is she playing along for her own gain? Let’s break it down.
On American Idol, JLo talked about who gave her advice when she was starting out. “A lot of people,” she said. “I had a lot of mentors. Puffy, AKA Diddy now, was one of them. When I first met him, I was making my first album, and he gave me a lot of insight into the music business. He’d been in the industry a long time.”
Lately, Jennifer Lopez has been having a tough time, both personally and professionally. The movie she funded with $20 million of her own money turned out to be a flop. Her tour got canceled, allegedly due to poor ticket sales. On top of that, there are reports that she and Ben Affleck are on the brink of divorce. Just last week, JLo was spotted looking stressed while driving around LA with her best friend, record executive and talent manager Benny Medina. This was just three days after she and Ben had an awkward air kiss at his son’s basketball game in Los Angeles.
Although JLo and Ben haven’t officially addressed the divorce rumors, sources close to Ben suggest he’s had enough of JLo’s fame-seeking behavior and is emotionally distant. Ben is also reportedly concerned about JLo getting involved in her ex-boyfriend Diddy’s legal troubles. JLo has kept quiet about her past with Diddy amid recent accusations against him. While some sources say JLo shouldn’t feel pressured to speak out, as she might have been a victim during their relationship, others claim she’s no victim and accuse her of aligning with problematic men for personal gain. These accusations extend to her associations with former Sony CEO Tommy Mottola, allegedly using JLo to get revenge on Mariah Carey, and her longtime friend Benny Medina, who allegedly used JLo’s connections to dodge serious charges, including sexual assault.
Before diving into the allegations against Benny Medina, let’s take a closer look at JLo’s past relationship with Diddy, as there’s conflicting information about her role in his alleged crimes. Recently, new details have emerged suggesting Diddy tried to control JLo in ways similar to how he treated Cassie. There’s speculation that JLo’s movie “Enough,” where she plays a domestic violence victim who fights back against her abusive husband, was inspired by her relationship with Diddy. The timeline supports this theory, as JLo took on the role shortly after breaking up with Diddy in February 2001. She later revealed that she suffered a nervous breakdown while filming “Enough,” saying, “I was suffering from a lack of sleep, and I did have a kind of nervous breakdown. I froze up on set—well, not on set, but in my trailer. I was like, ‘I don’t want to move, I don’t want to talk, I don’t want to do anything.’ It was on that movie ‘Enough.’ Yeah, I did. I had a nervous breakdown.”
It’s well-known that Diddy has control issues, with many who have worked closely with him noting his obsession with controlling women even after their relationships ended. Diddy’s longtime bodyguard, Gene Deal, provided insights into this behavior, revealing that even after Diddy and JLo went public with their relationship, Diddy was still fixated on controlling his ex, Kim Porter. He was so obsessed that he had people follow Kim to monitor her interactions with other men. “He didn’t want Kim to deal with anybody, bro. We would leave Jennifer’s house, he would call a babysitter. If Kim was out on the town, we were going to every spot in New York City that the babysitter thought she was at. Do you hear me? Even when he wasn’t dealing with her, he wanted complete control over her life.”
Looking back, it’s clear that Diddy tried to control JLo, and this behavior didn’t stop even after she moved on. For instance, just after she reunited with Ben Affleck in 2021, Diddy posted an old photo of him and JLo holding hands, calling it a “Throwback Thursday.” Classic narcissistic behavior, right? A couple of months later, he did an interview with Vanity Fair, denying any connection between his post and JLo’s reunion with Ben. “I don’t have nothing to say about her relationship or her life,” he claimed.
Additionally, while Diddy was dating JLo, he was reportedly unfaithful and controlling. According to one account, “While Jennifer was upstairs, he was downstairs receiving oral sex from someone else.”
Did she ever find out?
“She knows now.”
And the woman’s name was Karen?
“Yeah, Superhead.”
Oh, okay. Karrine Steffans. You’ve got to say the full name, man.
“Yeah, I thought it was her.”
Diddy would reportedly even show up on JLo’s movie sets and cause chaos whenever he found out she had a kissing scene, like when she was filming The Wedding Planner with Matthew McConaughey.
“What are y’all shooting today?”
“The last scene.”
“Oh, that’s hot. What’s the last scene?”
“The last kiss.”
“Oh, the kiss? There’s no kissing going on, right?”
“Yeah, he has a problem with stuff like that.”
“There better not be any kissing going on. Not like a kiss with tongue. It’s not like we kiss.”
“I think it’s silly, you know, kissing scenes because I’m an actor, and I know that it just doesn’t mean anything.”
It seems Diddy tried to control JLo similarly to how he did with Kim Porter before her and Cassie after her. However, JLo had a solid support system and was already a star in her own right, allowing her to get out just in time. The final straw for JLo was when she got arrested alongside Diddy after he allegedly shot up a New York City club and let his friend Shyne take the fall. This incident occurred in 1999 at Midtown’s Club New York, where Diddy, JLo, and Shyne were partying. Around 2:20 in the morning, Diddy accidentally bumped into a guy, spilling his drink. That guy happened to be Matthew Allen, AKA Scar, a notorious Brooklyn ex-con. Scar allegedly threw stacks of money in Diddy’s face and made some shady comments about Diddy wasting money. Things escalated quickly, and before anyone knew it, shots were fired. Multiple eyewitnesses claimed that some shots came from Diddy’s gun, leaving three clubgoers injured, including a woman who was hit in the face.
Diddy and JLo made a quick getaway in his 1999 Lincoln Navigator, but they were pulled over after running a red light. It turned out they had a stolen 9mm handgun in the trunk, leading to their arrest. For JLo, the nightmare was far from over. She spent the next 14 hours in custody, reportedly crying and sobbing hysterically the entire time, according to one police source. Shyne and Diddy’s bodyguard, Wolf, were also arrested for their involvement, and Shyne ended up serving a 10-year prison sentence. Diddy, however, managed to avoid jail time thanks to his high-powered legal team, which included heavyweights like Johnny Cochran and Benjamin Brafman. Diddy’s lawyers successfully argued that he was acting in self-defense, but rumors circulated that Diddy had thrown Shyne under the bus. Gene Deal even revealed that Diddy pressured witnesses to flip and testify against Shyne.
Shyne himself spoke about it in an interview: “You’re supposed to be my brother, and you got people testifying against me.” Those witnesses had initially gone to Puff, recounting what they saw Shyne do.
By this point, JLo had seen enough and decided to dump Diddy to save her career and possibly her life. Diddy, on the other hand, was furious about losing control over JLo and tried desperately to win her back.
I remember looking out the window, and as soon as they saw me, the person in charge gave the signal. Suddenly, hundreds of white doves were released. I was stunned and thought, “Oh my God, I can’t breathe.”
Did it work? Did you go back to him?
No.
Did you give back the Bentley?
Yes.
Because that’s what a girl does.
Yeah. And don’t forget the Rolls and the diamond.
Despite the grand gestures—like doves or Bentleys—JLo remained unmoved and chose not to reconcile with Diddy. Instead, she quickly started a relationship with Ben Affleck, which gave her public image a significant boost. Diddy, meanwhile, was left powerless. When he met Cassie in 2005, he reportedly became fixated on her because she reminded him of a younger JLo. This fixation led some to speculate that Diddy’s mistreatment of Cassie was a twisted form of revenge, as he found someone he could control. His extreme control over Cassie highlighted his disturbing tendencies.
However, there’s another side to the story. Some sources, including the woman who was shot in the face during a 1999 nightclub incident, suggest that JLo might not be as innocent as she seems. This came to light after a February lawsuit by Diddy’s former producer, Little Rod, who later revised his claim. Little Rod alleged that Diddy admitted to being responsible for the shooting involving rapper Shyne, and claimed that Jennifer Lopez had brought the gun into the club and handed it to Diddy during the confrontation. Natana Rubin, the woman who was shot, has maintained for the past 24 years that Diddy was the shooter, although her claims have faced skepticism and accusations of being untrue. Additionally, Natana noted that Cassie’s November lawsuit against Diddy mentioned being coerced into carrying a gun, suggesting that this behavior might have been a long-standing pattern for Diddy.
Cassie mentioned that Puffy made her carry his guns into nightclubs and wherever they went, using threats to make sure she did. That caught my attention, but something else in a lawsuit involving a producer named Little Rod really stood out. Both Cassie and Little Rod had terrible experiences with him—sexual assault, threats, and physical harm. But what struck me was Little Rod’s revelation: Puffy allegedly said, “That’s why I shot up the club in New York back in 1999 and let Shyne take the fall for it.”
This is personal for me because I’m the woman who was shot in the face in that 1999 Club New York shooting. Natana has been trying to expose for years that Diddy was the shooter. She mentioned that the surgeon who operated on her testified she had told the hospital staff it was Diddy who shot her. According to Natana, Diddy paid off a bunch of people, including the club owner, to hide the security footage.
I’ve been consistent about this from the start. I was shot in the face with a 9mm hollow-point bullet, often called a cop killer. I’ve always said I saw him fire the gun. Even the surgeon who removed the bullet fragments testified that I was shouting, “Puffy shot me in the face,” while being put under. This is all documented. Despite this, Diddy managed to pay off people like the club bouncer named Sharice and others to cover up the video evidence. It’s been his pattern. I’ve told everyone how he nearly killed me, and the trauma and damage he’s inflicted on my life.
Adding insult to injury, Natana shared that Diddy continued to make her life unbearable for years after the incident. She claims he even sent his people to sabotage her car and intimidate her.
“Let me tell you what I went through. In 2017 and 2018, I had seven flat tires on my BMW—seven! All on the same tire, despite getting new ones every time. I have pictures to prove it. It was harassment. You see, before Cassie came along, I was the only person who had successfully sued him and actually got paid out of his own pocket. He’s never gotten over it.”
Natana is determined to see justice served and won’t stop until Diddy is held accountable for all the suffering he’s caused her and her family.
“This RICO charge that’s coming? The conspiracy, the club shooting, the attempts to ruin my life? I swear, I won’t stop until you face every bit of punishment you deserve. For every tear I’ve shed and every moment of pain I’ve endured, I’ll make sure you pay back a million times over.”
But what about JLo? Natana feels she’s not off the hook for allegedly helping Diddy with the gun used in the attack. In a recent interview with NewsNation, Natana said, “While I was on the operating table fighting for my life, Miss Lopez was let go within an hour, and her charges were dropped. It’s ridiculous.”
Now, let’s talk about JLo’s close friend, Benny Medina. It seems JLo is still surrounded by controversial figures. Medina, a record executive and TV producer, first made a name for himself through connections with a wealthy family in Beverly Hills, which helped him meet influential figures and launch his career. His rags-to-riches story even inspired The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Medina and JLo go way back; he helped kickstart her career in 1999. Although JLo briefly fired him in 2003 and filed a complaint, they patched things up by 2008, with Medina returning as her manager and becoming a close friend and godparent to her twins. Medina also managed Diddy at one point, and there’s speculation that he used some incriminating footage to get Diddy to back off from JLo. But Medina has faced allegations of his own.
In November 2017, actor Jason Dottley accused Medina of attempted sexual assault at Medina’s LA mansion. Dottley, inspired by other high-profile allegations, decided to speak out. Plus, transgender activist Alexis Arquette dropped some surprising claims about Medina around the time Will and Jada Pinkett Smith boycotted the 2016 Oscars, a move that was criticized as being about Smith’s failed nomination for Concussion.
Alexis Arquette turned up the heat on Will and Jada Pinkett Smith with some bold accusations on Facebook. She claimed that both of them are bisexual and alleged that Will cheated on his first wife, Sheree, with his sugar daddy, Benny Medina. Arquette wrote: “I’ll listen to them when Jada comes out as gay and her husband admits that his first marriage ended because Sheree caught him with Benny Medina. Will threw a tantrum on the set of Six Degrees of Separation when he had to kiss Anthony Rapp. He convinced the director to shoot from behind, completely avoiding the kiss. Forget him. Some people who pretend to be allies are actually enemies hiding in fancy closets. You have to choose your side now.”
It’s worth noting that despite facing accusations of sexual assault, Benny Medina didn’t face any legal or professional consequences. In September 2018, prosecutors decided not to charge Medina because the case was too old. Plus, the alleged victim had recently died, though his name was kept private. Just before this, Jennifer Lopez had praised Medina in her MTV VMA acceptance speech, saying:
“I want to thank Benny Medina for 20 years of believing in me and fighting for me since the day I played him my first demo. I wouldn’t be here without him.”
The drama didn’t stop there. Rapper MC Shan recently accused Medina of offering him a role in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in exchange for sexual favors. Shan said:
“You might wonder why you’ve only heard three albums from me. I was blackballed from the music industry. After I spoke out against Benny Medina, my career went down the drain. I was up for that role, but after criticizing Medina, everything changed. They tried to mold me into something I wasn’t, and when I refused, they pushed me aside. Medina’s reputation is well-known, and I’m just sharing my experience and how my career was affected.”
Look, we all know what was happening back then, so let’s not pretend it’s a big secret. Quincy and everyone else, stop acting like it’s hidden. If things didn’t work out for you, maybe you just weren’t his type. He was interested in me, so maybe I was his type. If you’re doing your own thing, that’s your business. But don’t act like this isn’t part of my story. If it had been someone else who got the role, I’d be talking about them. It just happened to be him.
Remember, he was the ideal choice for the Fresh Prince and the image they wanted at the time. He was known for “Girls Ain’t Nothing But Trouble” and had that clean-cut look they were after. Shan, on the other hand, was into smoking weed, drinking, and partying—it wasn’t the image they wanted. I wasn’t going to change who I was or do anything I wasn’t comfortable with.
Despite the troubling allegations against Benny Medina, JLo is still sticking by him, and that’s why some fans aren’t very sympathetic. One fan asked, “Why is JLo even around him? He’s disgusting. Did he do something to her?” Another said, “JLo is a bossy narcissist. She’s responsible for her own choices. It’s awful what happened to the victim. How did she even survive? Sending peace and love to them.”
What do you think? Is JLo more of an accomplice to Diddy than a victim? How do you feel about her remaining friends with Benny Medina despite all the allegations? Drop your thoughts in the comments
