Rosie Perez and Jennifer Lopez have both served as inspirations to women in the Latin world for almost two decades.
Though Rosie Perez did come first in the late 80’s and 90’s with her non-apologetic New York attitude and very nasal accent.
Regardless of all of this, according to the 49-year-old The Counselor star’s upcoming memoir, Handbook For An Unpredictable Life, the actress spills the beans on her long running feud with J.Lo.
In the book Rosie suggests Jennifer Lopez owns her some credit to her career launching, because this Puertorriqueña helped a sista out when she was just a chubby, light skinned Latina trying to make it as a dancer on the then hit show, In Living Color. When the Wayans brothers weren’t impressed by Jenny from the block, it was Rosie who convinced them to give her a chance.
The story goes like this:
The two Puerto Rican actresses met in New York in 1991 at an open casting call for the sketch-comedy show “In Living Color,” where Perez, now 49, was a choreographer, a then Jennifer Lopez, now 44, auditioned to be a ‘Fly Girl’ dancer on the show.
Perez immediately noticed Bronx-born Jenny from the Block’s best asset, recalling her as a beautiful girl with a “big ass.”
However the show’s host and creator Keenan Ivory Wayans was not as impressed and refused to hire her, calling J.Lo “chubby and corny.”
Rosie vouched for Lopez eventually swaying Wayans to change his mind — but only if J.Lo cut her hair and dropped 20 pounds.
It was not long before the Monster-in-Law star rubbed Rosie the wrong way as she wrote: “All of the girls were coming into my office complaining how she was manipulating wardrobe, makeup, and me, all to her advantage.”
Lopez, would shrug it off, saying the other girls were just jealous
But Lopez dropped her “sweet-girl act” and “went off” on Perez like “some ghetto biatch, screaming and pounding her chest!” writes Perez.
According to Rosie, J.Lo flipped out on her saying, “You pick on me, me and only me, every f–king day! Every f–king day! I work my ass off, deliver and you keep pushing me aside, treating me like sh-t! I know I’m good! I’m better than any of these girls, and you know it,” Lopez roared.
Jenny left the show just after two seasons, but Rosie claims that the actress made “disparaging comments” about her after she became famous.
“I was blindsided” writes Rosie. “I’d thought we were cool. I called her up. She wouldn’t pick up. Frustrated, I left her an irate message on her answering machine. Instead of calling me back and hashing it out like friends do, she went on a major talk show and reiterated my lashing.”
Rosie recalls that months later, the two bumped into each other at a club.
“Jennifer came over to me, smiling, saying hello as if nothing had happened. I should’ve let it go, played it off, too. Instead, I killed her with my biting tongue,” Perez writes without elaborating.
The two have apparently sparred over the film rights to the story of Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina on the Supreme Court, according to the National Enquirer.
“We ladies of color all know how hard it is for us in the entertainment business, this kind of sh-t hurts us all and those that follow in our footsteps.” Perez laments in the book.
Rosie’s book Handbook For An Unpredictable Life will be released by publisher Crown Archetype on February 25.
