A former backup dancer who shared the stage with Jennifer Lopez during the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show in Miami has resurfaced with stinging allegations of body shaming and toxic workplace behavior, reigniting long-standing questions about the 56-year-old singer’s treatment of her staff.
A Shirtless Rehearsal and a Cutting Remark
Mia Starr, the 40-year-old dancer whose off-stage name is Mikey Pesante, says the trouble began early during preparation for the Super Bowl performance. According to Starr, Jennifer Lopez arrived at rehearsals not only to review choreography but to scrutinize the physical appearance of her dancers. On the second day, Starr says Lopez singled her out and instructed her to remove her shirt — and then, upon seeing her, addressed the entire group with a sweeping criticism. Starr said Lopez told the group, “Guys, I need you to elevate yourselves. I need you to go to the gym and take care of yourself.” That moment, Starr recalled, was only the beginning of a grueling and humiliating ordeal.
What followed, according to Starr, was a nine-hour shirtless rehearsal session she likened to hazing. She described dancing for hours while feeling deeply self-conscious, questioning aloud why she had put herself in that position. Starr, who has also performed alongside Rihanna and Britney Spears over the course of her career, said she felt Lopez was visibly repulsed by her body and made little effort to hide it. In a subsequent Entertainment Weekly interview, Starr said Lopez made it clear she was not pleased with what she saw, describing a look of what Starr called outright disgust.
Food Trucks, Pettiness, and a Final Verdict
The dynamic did not improve the following day. Starr says Lopez arranged for an elephant ear truck and an ice cream truck to be brought in for the dancers — a gesture Starr met with deliberate defiance. She recalled marching to the front of the line, making eye contact with Lopez, and offering a pointed “thank you,” only for Lopez to address the group again with the same “elevate yourselves” directive. Starr took the repeated comment as confirmation that Lopez had it out for her specifically. The remarks resurfaced during a YouTube conversation Starr had with fellow drag performer Mistress Isabelle Brooks, and gained wider traction in coverage published in May and June 2026. When Brooks asked whether Starr considered herself a Lopez fan, the dancer replied, “Team Shakira all day.”
Brooks, for her part, did not hold back either, declaring her permanent allegiance to Mariah Carey and delivering a pointed message to Lopez directly. Starr made clear that despite acknowledging Lopez’s artistry, she turned down an invitation to work with her again. She described the Super Bowl rehearsal period as the worst professional experience of her life — a verdict made all the more striking given that she has worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry. Starr added that while she could appreciate Lopez’s talent from a distance, the behind-the-scenes atmosphere left her feeling, in her own word, “icky.”
Lopez’s Diva Reputation Takes Another Hit
The timing of Starr’s comments proved particularly damaging. The renewed allegations landed amid a fresh wave of online mockery targeting Lopez, including a viral resurgence of jokes tied to the Four Seasons incident that has dogged her public image. The confluence of old complaints and new ones painted a portrait of a star whose reputation for difficult behavior has proven remarkably durable.
Lopez, who has built a parallel business empire through her JLo Beauty brand and starred in Kiss of the Spider Woman, has not publicly responded to Starr’s allegations. Critics note the irony of a star who has spent years marketing a message of confidence and self-acceptance being accused of tearing down a dancer’s self-image in front of her peers. Starr, who went on to compete on season 18 of RuPaul’s Drag Race after her years as a professional dancer, said the experience with Lopez stood apart from anything else in her career — and not in a way that reflected well on the superstar. Whether Lopez addresses the claims remains to be seen, but with the story continuing to gain traction across entertainment media, the silence is becoming harder to ignore.
