Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez Thanks Those ‘Who Lied to Me' in Emotional MTV Awards Speech

Lopez cried as she accepted the Generation Award at the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards

Jennifer Lopez accepting award
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

Jennifer Lopez was honored with the Generation Award at the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards and while on stage, the superstar revealed her low-key celebration plans with Ben Affleck, who was not in attendance.

"Ben and everybody at home, hi!," she exclaimed during her acceptance speech on June 5 at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. "Wait for me to have dinner, I'll be home by 7!"

Before the sweet shoutout to her fiancé, J. Lo reflected on her onscreen legacy, saying she shares a deep connection with all the characters she's taken on.

"I'm not any of the women that I've played, but there's a part of what is deeply true to me in every one of those characters," she shared. "And you cannot create truth unless you really lived it."

Lopez — who remains the only artist to have a No. 1 album and No. 1 movie simultaneously — went on to thank numerous people in her life, including those who have challenged her along the way.

MTV Movie &TV Awards 2022 Red Carpet Fashion

"I want to thank the people who gave me joy, and the ones who broke my heart," she said through tears. "The ones who were true and the ones who lied to me. I want to thank true love and I want to thank the way that I lied to myself because that's how I knew I had to grow. I want to thank disappointment and failure for teaching me to be strong."

As the 52-year-old thanked her children —14 year-old twins Max and Emme — for "teaching me to love," she teared up with emotion.

Lopez continued, "I want to thank all the people who told me to my face or when I wasn't in the room that I couldn't do this. I really don't think I could have done this without you. And I know I couldn't have done it without the fans. You are the reason that I am here. I couldn't have done this without you."

She also gave a rare shoutout to her longtime manager Benny Medina, whom she called "the true meaning of ride or die."

"If there's one person who believed in me from the beginning, from first time I played him a raggedy little demo of a song that I had wrote that day, and he never let me stop believing in myself, it was him," she praised. "You know when someone's at your side, you know when they're there for you at your lowest and most hopeless points, that you will never forget it, you never want to let them down. And there were times so low I think I can't go anymore for you than for myself."

She added, "It hasn't been easy, but I wouldn't change anything for the world."

Past Generation Award winners — which MTV describes as "beloved actors whose diverse contributions to both film and television have turned them into household names" — include Scarlett Johansson, Dwayne Johnson, Will Smith, Reese Witherspoon, Tom Cruise and more.

Earlier in the night, Lopez also took home the Best Song award for her hit "On My Way" from her film Marry Me, which set record viewership numbers on Peacock, where it premiered in February.

"It was a really personal song," she said in her acceptance speech. "It's about faith and belief and every step of your journey even what seems like the mistakes, the step in your yellow brick road. It makes me so happy that it touched your heart."

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