Jennifer Lopez’s ex-husband, Ojani Noa, blames Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs partially responsible for the breakdown of their brief marriage.
While appearing on Despierta America, the 50-year-old actor pondered on the end of his relationship with the superstar, 55, claiming that ‘part of that divorce’ was the 54-year-old disgraced hip-hop mogul’s ‘responsibility.’
“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”, Noa told the outlet.
He continued, “I was in Los Angeles opening my restaurant and she was between Miami and New York working on the album.”
Noa’s interview was translated from Spanish to English in the quotes above, which were published by Page Six on Wednesday.
Noa and Lopez were married between 1997 and 1998.
Oja was working as a waiter at Gloria Estefan’s Miami restaurant Lario’s On the Beach when he met Jennifer, who had been in the movie Money Train and was currently filming Blood and Wine, but had no idea who she was.
Previously, in a 2022 interview with the Mail on Sunday, Oja described how her existence as a’megastar’ finally had an impact on their marriage.
“There were many times I felt like Mr Cinderella. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. In the beginning, I had no idea who she was”, he recalled.
Oja continued, “We fell in love when she was already famous. But during our marriage she became a megastar. For years it was too painful to talk about. I wanted to lie low and live my life.”
The two initially kissed at the Blood and Wine wrap party, but Jennifer flew back to Los Angeles, and the two spent weeks conversing on the phone before Ojani joined her at the film’s premiere.
He recalled, “After the premiere we went back to her hotel. That was the first time we made love. It was perfect. She was perfect. We lay there afterwards and she said, “I want you to always be in my life. I love you.”‘
While the two were in love, Ojani’s world was turned ‘upside down’ when Jennifer was cast as the lead in Selena.
He reflected, “She went from Jen to being J Lo, this big business bringing in millions. She had all these new people around her, all wanting to make money off her. I would call and an assistant would say, “Sorry, she’s not available.”‘
Even after they married, their relationship deteriorated as images of Lopez with Diddy, who was producing her album, circulated, and she allegedly told her husband that she ‘couldn’t’ have children yet since it would harm her career.
He claimed: ‘I rang Jen and asked why she was going out with him on dates and she said, “It’s just business. This is what I’m being told I have to do.” I was jealous and would scream, “But you are married!”‘
We wanted kids, we discussed having kids. Then she told me she couldn’t have a baby because it would interfere with her career.”
The personal trainer also said he was told to ‘fake it’ when they went to Chicago in 1997 to tape an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Ojani recalled, “Oprah knew we were having problems. I was sitting in the audience and thought Oprah would come to me because we had talked about it beforehand.
“Oprah said to Jen, ‘I hear you guys are having problems.’ With that beautiful face and that beautiful smile, Jen said, ‘No, everything is amazing.’ Or something like that.”
The marriage later split, and the Hustlers actress publicly dated Diddy while remaining close to her previous spouse.
He said, “There were times she told me she wanted to get back together. In quiet moments she would say, ‘I need you in my life. I don’t want to lose you.‘”
Following their relationship, she married Cris Judd from 2001 to 2003, Marc Anthony from 2004 to 2014, and, most recently, Ben Affleck.
She and Affleck are currently in the process of completing their divorce after two years of marriage.
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