In candid interviews and fly-on-the-wall footage captured by director Amanda Micheli in summer 2019, Lopez tries to keep mum about speculation she’s the “frontrunner” to headline the halftime show. So when the announcement comes that September she’ll be joined by Shakira, Lopez’s team calls it a slight against both women, suggesting that the NFL doesn’t believe Latinas can command the world’s biggest stage solo.
Lopez, to be clear, doesn’t blame Shakira, and both artists are shown collaborating and supporting each other throughout the documentary. But Lopez doesn’t hold back about the NFL.
“If it was gonna be a double headliner, they should’ve given us 20 (expletive) minutes,” she tells Shakira by phone, after agreeing to evenly split up their 12-minute performance time.
Later in the film, Lopez attempts to hash out her Super Bowl set list with her music director, expressing frustration with how few songs she can realistically do in the six minutes allotted to her.
Tribeca Festival runs through June 19 with virtual and in-person events. “Halftime,” meanwhile, streams on Netflix June 14.