Jennifer Lopez says Oscars don’t matter after ‘Hustlers’ snub

Jennifer Lopez is opening up about her relationship with awards season, making it clear that she is no longer consumed by Oscar speculation after famously being left out for her 2019 role in Hustlers.

In a new interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Lopez admitted that she is hearing buzz again for her latest film, Kiss of the Spider-Woman, directed by Bill Condon. But when pressed about her expectations, the actress was quick to brush them aside. “I don’t, I don’t. I learned my lesson last time,” she said, noting that the joy for her now comes from the process of acting itself rather than the pursuit of awards.

The comment was a thinly veiled reference to her painful Oscars experience in 2020, when she was widely predicted to score a nomination for her performance as Ramona in Hustlers. Despite rave reviews, a Golden Globe nod, and multiple critics’ circle awards, Lopez was overlooked by the Academy. At the time, she admitted the snub left her heartbroken, even reflecting in her 2022 Netflix documentary Halftime that she truly believed she was going to hear her name on nomination morning.

In the new interview, Lopez doubled down on the idea that she has since moved past that moment. “Of course we all want that,” she said of recognition, but stressed that she no longer feels she needs an Oscar to validate her career. “I realized that I don’t need it in the way that maybe I thought when I was younger,” she explained, before joking that she would still happily accept one if offered.

Her upcoming role as diva Ingrid Luna in Kiss of the Spider-Woman has already drawn strong early praise, and she is expected to be campaigned in the Best Supporting Actress category at the 2026 Academy Awards.

Online, fans are split between rooting for Lopez to finally get her long-deserved recognition and cynically pointing out that the Academy may repeat history. Either way, her candid remarks remind audiences of how deeply the Hustlers snub shaped her perspective, leaving her wary of placing too much faith in an institution that once overlooked one of her most acclaimed performances.