'She Wanted to Backhand Him': Fans Sense Beef Brewing Between J.Lo and Sterling K. Brown After He Mocks Her Spanish and Doesn't Follow Her IG (2024)

Social media is abuzz with claims that Sterling K. Brown and Jennifer Lopez, co-stars of the new Netflix film “Atlas,” are on the outs thanks to recent video clips that have hit the net.

The pair, along with fellow co-star Simu Liu, have been on a press tour promoting “Atlas” over the past few weeks. As more clips from their interviews make their way online, fans have been pointing to awkward interactions between Brown and Lopez that they believe are tell-tale signs that something is awry in their personal relationship, which could be spilling over into their professional relationship.

On May 24, Jennifer Lopez, Simu Liu & Sterling K. Brown sat down with Unilad for a Q&A session. All was going well until the fourth question, where Simu asked the group about their favorite comfort meals.

Lopez answered first.

“I grew up … I’m Puerto Rican, so I like rice and beans —”

“Are you Puerto Rican?” Brown interrupts sarcastically. “Get outta here!”

“Yes, I am,” Lopez quickly answered without a second thought before going back to her answer. “Rice and beans, and like, chicken and —”

Brown then seems to ignore Lopez completely and begins speaking over her in Spanish, “Arroz, frijoles, pollo, a mi gusta!”

A clip from the interview instantly went viral, with fans making a note of Brown seemingly mocking how often Lopez mentions she’s Puerto Rican and how bad her Spanish is.

“She definitely seems very self-centered. Who doesnt know she’s puerto rican????” an X user asked.

“I know him and his wife drag her to shredddssss. And he like u aint even say it in Spanish,” said another observer.

“Sterling is over J LO,” a YouTube commenter wrote.

Other fans took note of Jennifer’s reaction to Brown’s sarcasm.

“It’s all in her reaction to him being sarcastic. It’s not a positive vibe… that’s not hating, just the facts,” said an X user.

“Her look when she turned back was like she wanted to backhand him,” commented another.

Another video making its rounds was a clip from Univision reporter Daniela Ganoza, who had the opportunity to chat with the “Atlas” stars on the red carpet recently. She conducted the interview in English but was not expecting what would happen next.

While asking the actors what they felt the future of AI holds, Ganoza was shocked to find that Liu was fluent in Spanish. Breaking out in the language, he flawlessly answered the question with ease, leaving the host gobsmacked at his abilities.

To make matters more astonishing, Brown reacts to the excitement of Liu speaking Spanish by joining in and speaking Spanish as well.

“They speak better Spanish than I do, I’m always being shamed for my Spanish,” J.Lo said.

And at least she was honest. However, she did attempt to give it a good try, but struggled when she could not figure out the Spanish word for “depict.” Fortunately, Brown was there to help.

“Mostrar,” he answered, once again impressing the reporter.

By then, the host was so impressed with the Spanish of J. Lo’s co-stars that she was completely ignoring the Puerto Rican actress, who was still struggling to complete her answer to the question.

“Sterling, we’re doing this in Spanish the next time,” the Univision correspondent said.

Fans were quick to add their commentary to the now-viral clip.

“Omg they both showed her up. Feels deliberate. Embarrassing for her,” said one X user.

“Jenny has been Puerto Rican her whole life. Why is she struggling so hard with espanol? Having a Black man AND an Asian man clown her in her people’s language makes this so much funnier. I know they are sick of her,” remarked another.

“He has been on one at every promo stop with her and I have soo many questions,” another X user said.

And it seems that they weren’t the only one to notice a pattern. X user @MissSassBox did some investigating and found that though Brown followed his “Atlas” co-star Simu Liu on Instagram, he does not follow J.Lo. On the other hand, J.Lo happens to follow Brown on the platform.

She tweeted her conspiracy, saying:

“For every body who thinks we’re reading into the Sterling Brown not digging Jennifer Lopez thing… Do me a quick favor:

1. Peep his Twitter and IG and tell me if you see any Atlas promo or likes.

I’ll help you, YOU WON’T.

2. Jennifer follows Sterling, but Sterling does NOT follow Jennifer.

3. Sterling does follow Simu Liu.

Now do the J. Lovers wanna jump in and give more excuses? Good luck speaking over my laughter and cackling. Do better with paying attention to energy.

P.S. Sterling has been active on Twitter, reposting THIS IS US material.”

She then provided screenshots of their respective pages to back up her claims.

Even Brown’s wife has caught wind of the shade. A TikToker requested that “someone close” to Brown bring us the tea on what’s going on between the two actors, and lo and behold, the beautiful Ryan Michelle Bathé commented.

“You are soooooo messy and I freaking love you!!!!! Like love you down,” Bathé said, leaving fans eager for more.

Neither Jennifer nor Brown has spoken up regarding the rumors of a beef brewing on set. However, Brown did mention in a May 13 interview with “Access Hollywood” that J.Lo unknowingly drove a wedge between his relationship with his wife.

“There was a premiere of her first video on MTV. I’m sitting here to watch it, but my girlfriend, now wife, was sitting here watching me watch the video, and I was like, I feel her eyes on me. So, I’m trying not to have a reaction to it, so I don’t blink. I’m just watching, trying to be cool, and then my eyes start to water, and she goes, ‘You crying over J.Lo?'”

According to Brown, the couple broke up for three years, but all’s well that ends well. They married in 2007 and have lived happily ever after ever since.