Jennifer Lopez has had a turbulent romantic life since she entered the public spotlight.
However, before she ended her marriage to Marc Anthony, and before she reunited with her one-time fiancé Ben Affleck, the ‘Jenny From The Block’ singer was reportedly embroiled in an even more difficult tryst.
Let’s cast our mind back to the 1990s.
When Lopez was 28, she married her first husband, actor and producer Ojani Noa.
It was February 1997, and at the time he was a waiter at a Cuban restaurant, hoping to open his own venue.
Unfortunately, their whirlwind marriage didn’t last the distance, ending just 11 months later, in January 1998.
Lopez was recording her debut album On the 6 with producer Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs during this time, and the pair would go on to officially date the year of its release in 1999.
For many years, fans thought that Lopez’s marriage ending and her new romance with Diddy happened in two separate moments in time.
However, Ojani Noa, recently stirred up drama by claiming that Sean “Diddy” Combs played a major part in the downfall of their marriage.
Is Diddy the reason JLo divorced her first husband?
During a recent podcast interview, Noa didn’t hold back on their brief romance, placing “part of” the blame for the pair’s divorce on the disgraced rap mogul.
The actor said to the outlet, “When Sony came and paid her the millions she got, there was Puffy [Combs], who was going to be one of the producers of several tracks on the first album, On The 6.
“Part of that divorce was Diddy’s fault,” he added.
As Lopez’s career soared, so did the personal tensions, leaving their relationship fractured.
Noa added that Lopez became enamoured with her growing fame, causing the relationship to fracture further.
“I felt she was [now] really enjoying the media attention,” he told the Daily Mail. “I would say to her: ‘You have to be private. You can’t be real in a relationship if you’re always being photographed.”‘
“I can tell you in my own experience, we would have disagreements in the car and then 20 minutes later, we’d have to sit and pretend everything was fine,” he said.
Ojani Noa and Jennifer Lopez. Image: Getty.
In the weeks since the arrest, multiple lawsuits have been filed against the rapper, with allegations of sexual assault and drugging victims. In some cases, the people filing the lawsuits were children at the time of the assault. Combs has denied all charges.
Since the allegations came to light, the other relationships Diddy engaged in have been drawn back into the spotlight, including his romance with JLo from 1999 to 2001.
Here, we dive into the fascinating history of one of pop culture’s most controversial pairings.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Jennifer Lopez. Image: Getty.
How did Diddy and JLo meet?
Lopez and Combs first crossed paths in the late 1990s when Lopez was working on launching her music career.
She had been working on her debut album On the 6 with Diddy, who was one of the producers.
At the time, Diddy had just ended his on-again, off-again relationship with the late Kim Porter.
Their professional relationship quickly evolved into something more, with the two becoming one of the most high-profile couples in Hollywood, attending events like 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, where JLo donned that famous plunging green Versace gown.
But behind the glitz and glamour, there were signs of turbulence in their relationship.
The high-profile romance took a dark turn when a nightclub shooting put both stars under intense scrutiny.
The infamous nightclub shooting incident.
The incident, which unfolded in December 1999 at Club New York, involved a heated altercation that ended in gunfire, left three people injured, and Diddy facing 15 years in prison.
JLo, who was with Diddy at the time, faced arrest and was questioned for several hours, but was quickly cleared of any wrongdoing.
The event has resurfaced following Diddy’s arrest, with one of the victims, Natania Reuben, renewing her allegation that Diddy was the one who shot her in the face.
Natania told The Daily Beast of the moment she heard of his arrest, “I said, ‘Are you kidding me, really?’ [My daughter] said, ‘Yes!’ I just screamed out to God, ‘Thank you, merciful father!'”
“One of the best days ever,” she added.
The 53-year-old told also Elizabeth Vargas Reports, “I’m willing to have a doctor remove a part of the nine-millimetre bullet in my face so that they can use it as evidence if need be for this trial, and it may cost me my life.”
During her testimony, Natania told the court, “I saw Mr. Combs… pull out a black gun with his right hand,” adding she felt as though “a flaming hot sledgehammer had hit me in the face.”
Although Diddy was acquitted at trial in 2001, his associate, rapper Shyne Barrow, was sentenced to 10 years in prison over the incident.
Shyne recently broke his silence over the drama, alleging that Diddy “ruined” his life.
“When I was an 18-year-old kid, just wanting to do nothing other than make my mother proud and make Belize proud and… be recognised for my talent and take over the world,” he continued.
“I was defending [Diddy], and he turned around and called witnesses to testify against me.”
“This was not someone who I vacationed with and who… I enjoyed this great intimate relationship of brotherhood,” he said. “This is someone who destroyed my life, and who I forgave.”
Natania also attested to Diddy’s power, saying in another interview, “[Combs] was somebody with power, prestige, fame, money, and all of that.”
“It was the biblical David and Goliath story. I know my sling and my stone might be 25 years old, but… who better to tell you what happened than the person who got shot smack dab in between my eyes?”
Why did Diddy and JLo break up?
The relationship between the two began to crack under the weight of legal battles and relentless media coverage. In a July 2000 interview with British Elle, JLo referred to the shooting as a “complete nightmare.”
She added, “I was scared to death in the car. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. No one did.”
Amid the pressure, Diddy and JLo split in February 2001 after two years together.
Diddy confirmed the news on Valentine’s Day via his publicist, saying, “Mr. Combs confirmed that he and his love, Jennifer Lopez, have, in fact, broken up.”
“Mr. Combs is confirming this today, as he wanted to put all the rumours surrounding their relationship to rest. At this difficult time, we ask that you respect his privacy,” Moar said.
Following the breakup, JLo claimed in a 2003 interview with Vibe that Diddy “wasn’t faithful” to her.
“I was in this relationship with Puff where I was totally crying, crazy and going nuts, it really took my whole life in a tailspin.
“I never caught him [cheating] but I just knew. He’d say he was going to a club for a couple of hours and then never come back that night,” she said.
“I had to think, do I want to be home with kids in 10 years wondering where somebody is at three in the morning?”
Image: Getty.
JLo would go on to detail an abusive relationship in her 2024 documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, although she did not specify to whom she was referring.
“There were people in my life who said ‘I love you’ and then didn’t do things that were kind of in line with the word ‘love.’ Being thrown around and manhandled like that is not fun,” Lopez said.
“I mean, I was never in a relationship where I got beat up, thank God, but I’ve definitely been manhandled and a couple of other unsavoury things. Rough. Disrespectful.”
However, in 2014, JLo said she was “grateful” for her whirlwind romance with the rapper.
“He gave me so many cues and taught me so many things,” she told Access Hollywood in October 2014.
“I’ll always be grateful to him for that, and I love that he can be so supportive of me so many years later and there’s still so much mutual respect, admiration and love there.”
Did JLo attend Diddy’s White Parties?
Lopez was a prominent guest at Diddy’s famed White Parties, regularly attending alongside other Hollywood A-listers during their relationship.
The lavish events, known for their star-studded guest lists and strict white-only dress code, brought together a variety of celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Credit: Patrick McMullan
Photos from one particular party in July 2001 captured Lopez and Diddy lounging in luxury, mingling with top actors and musicians.
However, there is currently no evidence to suggest that JLo attended or knew of the rapper’s sordid ‘Freak Off’ parties.
JLo has yet to comment on the allegations surrounding Diddy.
Credit: Patrick McMullanFor now, we will need to wait as lawyers announce further details of the 120 lawsuits against Diddy. You can keep up to date with all the harrowing details of the Diddy case here.
Image: Getty.
