JENNY BLOCKED: Negotiations for Las Vegas J. Lo Residency Stall — Report

Posted on: May 29, 2024, 11:02h. 

Last updated on: May 29, 2024, 05:21h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.

The brakes have been hit on pricey negotiations for a Jennifer Lopez residency on the Las Vegas Strip early next year, according to a report in the New York Post. At issue are sagging sales for her new album and upcoming summer tour.

Superstar Jennifer Lopez is experiencing both professional and personal lows right now. (Image: Getty)

Lopez had been in talks with MGM Resorts and Live Nation Entertainment to perform 90 dates for $90 million at the 5,200-seat Park Theater at the MGM Grand, according to The Post.

This is Her … Now

That was before Lopez’s “This is Me … Now” album became, at least so far, the worst-selling of her career. It was also before, according to Variety, seven shows on her concert tour — in Cleveland, Nashville, Raleigh, Atlanta, Tampa, New Orleans, and Houston — had to be quietly scrapped due to “weak ticket sales.”

According to Ticketmaster, a third of the 19,500 seats for Lopez’s T-Mobile Arena concert in Las Vegas on July 20 are still unsold. An unnamed source told The Post that MGM execs are watching Lopez “not doing well on the road” and are “very nervous.”

“It’s pretty rare you have a poor tour and then go to Vegas,” the source is quoted as saying.

The $1 million-per-show figure was based on J. Lo’s highly successful, 130-date residency at Planet Hollywood’s Zappos Theater. Its final show in 2018 set a box office record for the venue of $1.17 million and made J. Lo the fastest performer on the Strip to sell $100 million worth of tickets.

Lopez received about $500K per show for that two-year residency, according to The Post. That’s the same amount that MGM is currently paying Mariah Carey, and that Caesars Entertainment paid Celine Dion for her two residencies at Caesars Palace. It’s also about half as much as MGM is currently forking over to Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga.

The record to break remains Adele’s $2 million-per-show at Caesars Palace, for a residency scheduled to conclude on June 15.

Feelin’ So Bad

Originally, according to an unconfirmed report in February by Britain’s The Mirror, the offer to J. Lo was $800K per residency show. That was until Resorts World chimed in with $875K per show — in partnership with Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) — forcing MGM to top it to stay in the running.

But, according to The Post’s source, a Lopez residency is now only worth $600K-$650K for far fewer than 90 shows.

Reps for Lopez and MGM wouldn’t entertain requests to comment.

The news comes at a distressing time in the actress/singer’s personal life, as her highly publicized marriage to Ben Affleck is also reportedly crumbling. The on-again/off-again couple got hitched at the Little White Chapel in Vegas less than two years ago, after having been broken up since 2004.