Right-wing pundit Megyn Kelly is not pleased with Jennifer Lopez’s recent performances — and she’s made that clear by hurling vile attacks at the singer this week.
In a Monday post on X, formerly Twitter, the former Fox News host reposted a video clip of Lopez performing a steamy dance sequence with her dancers onstage during her current Up All Night summer tour, which kicked off in Europe earlier this month.
“So she’s a soft porn star now. Great choices!” Kelly wrote in response to the video. She also dedicated some time to slamming Lopez during an episode of her podcast, “The Megyn Kelly Show,” which was posted online Tuesday.
Kelly criticized Lopez’s thong bodysuit and the sexual nature of the performance.
“We see heinie with a thong and a man looks like he’s giving her oral sex — like his face is in her crotch,” she said on her show, adding, “She simulates actual sex acts … though she’s clothed, with a bunch of men wearing just pants and corsets, I guess.”
“She’s 55 years old, and she hasn’t come to grips with the fact that she’s not a sex symbol anymore,” she later continued. “I’m sorry, I can say this ’cause I’ll be 55 in November. We’re not sex symbols. We could look great for our age, we can rock a bikini in the right setting, that’s terrific, good for us.”
“But asking the American public to look at you and be like, ‘I want to have sex when I look at her’ — that ship has sailed,” she added with a laugh. “I’m sorry, it sailed with menopause.”
Kelly has criticized Lopez before. Last year, she said that Lopez was “past her prime,” and she suggested that the singer rekindled her relationship with her now ex-husband Ben Affleck to garner better press.
Brandy Smith, a licensed psychologist with Thriveworks, said Kelly’s recent statements criticizing Lopez’s performance appeared to have had the intent to shame “rather than to celebrate a woman’s empowerment and sexuality.”
“There is likely some piece of it, conscious or not, connected to misogyny because it is suggesting that women should present themselves in a certain way and that a woman who does not present herself in a certain way is problematic,” she told HuffPost.
Kelly has 3.6 million followers on X — and it can “absolutely” be harmful for anyone to see those kinds of remarks about women,” said Tori Lyn Mills, a licensed therapist with Thriveworks.
“When someone with a significant platform shares commentary that reinforces narrow-minded ideas about how women should behave, dress or express themselves, particularly women in midlife, it contributes to the ongoing stigmas that limit women’s freedom and visibility,” she told HuffPost. “Public figures have a unique influence that comes with a responsibility to reflect mindfully on how their words may reinforce harmful cultural narratives, even if it is unintentional.”
Xavi Torrent via Getty Images
Jennifer Lopez photographed performing onstage during a stop on her “Up All Night” tour on July 15, 2025 in Barcelona, Spain.
The sexual shaming of women is rooted in misogyny.
“In general, women often are not conceptualized as wanting sex, so while women are sexualized, it is seen as for the observer’s pleasure rather than a woman wanting to lean into her own sexuality,” Smith said. “And, women who exude sexuality are often viewed as promiscuous.”
Smith explained that both of those ways of thinking “interfere with the view that women can have ownership of their own sexual desire and power.”
“Women beyond a certain age are seen as sexual beings even less, so the idea of a woman within her 50s can be difficult for people to see as powerful and vital, much less sexual,” Smith said.
Mills said that Kelly’s recent dig at Lopez was “typical sexual shaming,” which sends the message that “confident, expressive women who own their sexuality should sit down and be quiet once they reach a certain age.”
“That kind of commentary isn’t just judgmental, it’s rooted in misogyny,” she added.
Mills emphasized that much of the criticism Lopez receives has to do with her age, and it implies that “a woman reaching midlife should no longer be visible, dynamic, or sensual.”
“It exposes a deeper cultural discomfort with women who defy age-related expectations and continue to thrive in the spotlight,” she added.
“Shame suffocates self-worth,” Mills said.
Mills explained that when women are repeatedly judged for how they express their sexuality or how they dress, it can create a “painful conflict between being true to yourself and conforming to societal ‘norms’/expectations.”
“That dissonance can seriously damage mental health, leading to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and dysphoria,” she said. “Empowerment starts with self-acceptance and that becomes extremely difficult when the world keeps telling you to tone it down.”
“Shame suffocates self-worth,” she said.
Smith said that sexual shaming can impact the “amount of energy a person may feel they need to exert to feel OK within their skin and with interacting with others,” and it can contribute to “low sense of self, anxiety and depression along with potential disordered eating behaviors.”
Overall, Smith said that as a society, we need to learn to stop commenting on others and objectifying women. “Focus on what you are OK with for yourself and not policing others,” she said.
Mills said society should “embrace a more respectful and inclusive view of women’s autonomy.”
“This means recognizing and challenging unconscious biases, rejecting the impulse to judge or control women’s appearance, and allowing space for diverse expressions of femininity, age and identity,” she said.
She later shared some advice to anyone who may feel tempted to police a woman’s sexuality, or how she dresses:
“And if that critical voice creeps up in your head about a woman’s body, outfit or choices? Press your top lip to your bottom one and keep it there … because not every opinion needs a microphone.”
