Jennifer Lopez’s $90 million Las Vegas residency deal has reportedly been put in ‘jeopardy’ over the slumping sales for her upcoming This Is Me… Live tour amid furious speculation that the popstar’s marriage to Ben Affleck is in severe trouble.
Back in February, reports hit the web that the Jenny From the Block songstress, 54, was being eyed for 90-show residency at the The Park MGM Theater in Sin City, for which she was reportedly being offered $1 million per concert.
But now, the New York Post has claimed that the ‘deal looks shaky at best’ – with a source claiming that ‘casino executives have grown skittish’ since the singer’s new album and tour are ‘flopping badly.’
The source told the publication, ‘MGM is watching her not doing well on the road. They are very nervous. It’s pretty rare you have a poor tour and then go to Vegas.’
The insider further theorized that the lack of ticket sales will likely lead to her being paid significantly less for the residency – only $600,000-$500,000 per show – and that it will include less concerts than the 90 shows that were originally planned.
Jennifer Lopez ‘s $90 million Las Vegas residency deal has been put in jeopardy over the horrendous sales for her upcoming This Is Me… Live tour
Another insider added that ‘discussions have continued’ with Jennifer and MGM but that ‘no deal has been signed’ yet.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Jennifer’s rep and the MGM for comment.
The Mirror was the first to report that J.Lo was gearing up for a dazzling Las Vegas residency in early February.
‘Jennifer’s All I Have run [from 2016 to 2018] was one of the biggest residences ever in Las Vegas,’ a source said at the time.
‘That was with Caesars Palace, but MGM have come in to get this new show to the Park Theater.
‘The talks are ongoing with a real hope that she will be signed up and announced later this year.
‘It will be a real coup for The Park and a huge deal to have one of the biggest stars on the planet back in the city.’
But weeks later, things began going downhill for Jennifer when it was announced that she had canceled shows across seven cities for her highly-anticipated tour, which is set to kick off in late June.
A source theorized that the lack of ticket sales will lead to her being paid significantly less for the residency – only $600,000-$500,000 per show. She’s seen with Ben Affleck in February
Jennifer canceled shows across seven cities for her highly-anticipated tour back in March, and has struggled to sell tickets to many of the upcoming concerts. J.Lo is seen on stage in 2022
She axed all scheduled dates between August 22 to August 30 in Nashville, New Orleans, Raleigh, Atlanta, Houston, Cleveland, and Tampa.
No cause or explanation for the cancelation has been provided by the performer or her team.
In early April, it was revealed that the tour – which is set to be her first tour in five years – had been rebranded from This Is Me… Now: The Tour to This Is Me… Live.
At the time, Variety reported that it would also focus more on her greatest hits rather than the music off her latest album, This Is Me… Now.
A source told DailyMail.com afterwards that the rebrand was expected to draw in fans from her previous work and lure in listeners who didn’t connect with This Is Me… Now.
The decision was said to have been partly inspired by the success of her competitors like Taylor Swift and Madonna, who have enjoyed hugely successful tours in the last two years.
‘Jennifer saw how well Taylor Swift did with the Eras Tour and Madonna did with Celebration, which spans their entire careers, and she hopes to be able to deliver something that will take her fans through the journey of her life,’ an insider told DailyMail.com exclusively.
‘This Is Me… Now was such a healing and cathartic experience for her. She does not regret it for one second.
‘But now she is looking forward and is ready to bring this back to her roots and show her fans that she is still, and always will be, Jenny from the Block.’
But as of early May, it looked like Jennifer was still struggling to sell tickets, with blocks of seating still available at multiple venues, according to official seat maps on Ticketmaster, and resale sites scalping tickets for as little as $10.
Two weeks later, a source told DailyMail.com that organizers were keen to pull the plug on the tour to stave embarrassment over the poor sales – but the hitmaker and her manager refused.
‘A few weeks ago, Live Nation met with J.Lo’s manager Benny Medina to suggest cancelling J.Lo’s tour and because him and J.Lo are so adamant that the show must go on, it’s going on,’ the insider said.
Earlier this month, DailyMail.com revealed that J.Lo was struggling to sell tickets for several of her tour dates, including Miami on June 29 (blue seats are those that were unsold as of May 3)
It was a poorer state of affairs for the first night of two in Denver, Colorado, on July 22
Despite selling the majority of tickets for her first night in New York City, numbers were poor for the second night on August 17 (seen), which also doubles up as the closing night of the tour
In May, a source told DailyMail.com that organizers were keen to pull the plug on the tour to stave embarrassment over the poor sales – but the hitmaker (seen performing in 2016) refused
A second source added, ‘Live Nation is very concerned about the lack of tickets sold and doesn’t want Jen to feel embarrassed when she goes out there and sees empty patches in the stadiums she is going to perform at.
‘But Jen has too much pride to cancel it, so it’ll currently be what it will be, they can’t convince her to change course.’
The first insider suggested the lack of appetite for her tour could be due to her being ‘overexposed.’
‘J.Lo is overexposed and has put herself out there way too much,’ they continued. ‘First it was her marriage, then her never-ending honeymoon, followed by a movie, then an album release.
‘Then she felt the need to tell her and Ben’s love story in a documentary that she funded called The Greatest Love Story Never Told.
‘And now Benny allowed her to go on a massive tour. It is just too much.’
Jennifer released This Is Me… Now back in February, and it was accompanied by a musical film called This Is Me… Now: A Love Story and a documentary entitled The Greatest Love Story Never Told.
The album debuted at number 38 on the Billboard char, her first LP to not make the top 20.
Ben and Matt Damon’s company Artists Equity financed the documentary, while Jennifer self financed her film This Is Me…Now: A Love Story for $20 million.
Jennifer is also facing problems in her personal life, as rumors have emerged recently that her marriage to Ben is on the rocks.
The two are reportedly living in separate homes two years after they tied the knot, and the actor, 51, was spotted without his wedding ring on last week. He was, however, wearing it when he stepped out on Friday.
The pair reunited publicly for the first time in seven weeks on May 16, as they attended Ben’s child Fin’s school recital together.
