Fiona Apple Reacts to Jennifer Lopez Stripping to Her Song 'Criminal' in 'Hustlers'
Fiona Apple is a fan of Jennifer Lopez!
In a new interview with Vulture, the 42-year-old singer opens up about why she gave Lopez's latest flick, Hustlers, the rights to use her 1996 track, "Criminal." In the film, Lopez, who plays a stripper, performs to Apple's song.
"Listen, I just want to say: I would give my song to Jennifer Lopez to dance to for free, any day, any time," she tells the outlet. "I really want to see the movie. If I were a person who actually left my house, I’d go."
While Apple notes that she's generous with the rights to that particular song -- "Basically, every single time any college dancer or So You Think You Can Dance [contestant] asks, I’ll give them the rights," she says -- she decided to let Hustlers use her "little help-out-people song" because "what it was and who was in it."
"I didn’t know [Jennifer Lopez] was going to be dancing to it," she shares of the song, from which she donated two years of royalties to While They Wait, an organization that aids immigrants.
"Right now the song itself, the lyrics, those don’t really mean anything to me. The way it started, the video, all the crap I got -- using this song now, and using it in this movie for a purpose I believe in, is like reclaiming it," she explains. "I’m not that scared girl in underwear anymore. The song isn’t that to me anymore. It’s my way of paying for things that I want to get done."
ET's Keltie Knight recently spoke with Lopez, who opened up about what it was like to strip down to shoot her pole dancing scene for the film.
"Let me tell you, when we filmed the [pole dancing] scene, I was terrified. I was so ready for it, I was prepared, I knew exactly what I was doing. And as I walked to the stage in dental floss, literally wearing nothing, I said to myself, 'Oh my god, what am I doing with my life right now? Oh my god,'" Lopez recalled. "And then after I did it, I really got into the mindset of, 'I'm going to take all your money. That's what I'm going to do right now.' It's a mindset that these girls have."
In addition to discussing Lopez in the context of Hustlers, in a post-interview text message to the Vulture reporter, Apple recalled her near-encounter with the "El Anillo" singer in 1996 or 1997.
"I was in NY at a pre-Grammy party (because I used to go to s**t like that)," Apple wrote. "And my sister Maude was with me, but she was on the other side of this big room filled with little tables and mingling celebrities and executives… So J.Lo’s album hadn’t come out yet, and nobody had started talking about her a**"
"And I swear I saw her (J.Lo), and ran to get my sister JUST to show her how beautiful that a** was -- and the moment I pointed her out to my sister, J.Lo turned to speak to someone and her butt was just above table-level, and her butt knocked over someone’s glass of champagne and she didn’t even notice," she continued. "It was glorious."
Watch the video below for more on Hustlers.
RELATED CONTENT:
Jennifer Lopez Reacts to Emilia Clarke Fashion Tribute at the Emmys
Derek Hough Praises Jennifer Lopez's '10-Minute' Pole Dance in 'Hustlers': 'That's Some Stamina!'
'Hustlers' Costume Designer Reveals Secrets of the Movie's Most Iconic Looks (Exclusive)
Related Articles:
