Jennifer Lopez’s Tattoos and Their Meanings

There’s no denying that Jennifer Lopez is a powerhouse. The actor, singer, and entrepreneur is well known for her amazing voice and her fashion-and-beauty-icon status, often both setting and following the latest and greatest trends. She’s always sporting a drool-worthy manicure, her outfits are always on point, and her hair never has a strand out of place. But what about Jennifer Lopez’s tattoos? You might be surprised to learn that when it comes to tattoos, her opinion is a little nuanced. While the tattoos of yesteryear might not have been everyone’s cup of tea, the current tattoo trends, like using single needles and opting for smaller pieces, have shown us that the body art truly can be for everyone — even J Lo.

On February 14, 2023, Lopez unveiled her first-ever permanent tattoo on social media, dedicated to her then rekindled commitment to Affleck. The design, placed on her left ribcage, features an infinity symbol with an arrow. The names “Jennifer” and “Ben” are woven into the infinity loops in cursive font. Affleck also commemorated their first Valentine’s Day as a married couple by getting a complementary tattoo featuring two crossbows with the letters J and B scribbled in the middle.

However, it seems as though Lopez’s commitment to body ink may have been short-lived. On August 20th, 2024, Lopez filed for divorce from Affleck, and during a recent red carpet appearance at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, it looks as though Lopez opted to either remove or temporarily cover up her tattoo. Lopez popped up at the premiere of “Unstoppable” wearing a cut out Tamara Ralph dress that showed plenty of skin on both sides of her body. What couldn’t be seen was her ribcage tattoo.

Though the location of Affleck’s latest ink was never clear from the previously shared images, the piece appeared to be small and done in black ink — a departure from his existing massive and colorful arm and back tattoos. While we aren’t sure whether or not Affleck will keep his ink dedicated to Lopez or opt to remove it, we’ll just have to wait and see.

However, in the past, Affleck has chosen to stick with the ink he’s gotten, even when it’s been met with dislike. In case you forgot, he’s also the owner of a notoriously large and bright-colored phoenix on his back, which has attracted a deluge of disapproving responses from people on the internet, including Lopez herself.

When asked about her honest take on Affleck’s back-covering tattoo during a 2016 appearance on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen,” Lopez didn’t hold back. “It’s awful!” she said. “I mean, I would tell him that. I would tell him, like, ‘What are you doing?'” She went on to explain her specific issue with the design. “It has too many colors. His tattoos always have too many colors,” she said. “They shouldn’t be so colorful, you know what I mean? They should be, like, cooler, I don’t know.” Despite the barrage of not-so-positive remarks, Affleck remains unbothered, telling Ellen DeGeneres in a 2019 interview that the phoenix rising from ashes represents something symbolically important to him. “I love my tattoo,” he said. “I’m very happy with it.”

However, although Lopez seems to show distaste for Affleck’s cover up tattoo, she has sported massive faux tattoos for different movie roles in the past. She was seen with a large vibrant arm tattoo for her role in the film “Unstoppable,” which featured a portrait of the crucifixion of Jesus with red-inked flowers and green-colored petals surrounding it.

Longtime fans know Lopez has committed to temporary body art for onscreen roles in other instances, as well. In the 2019 movie “Hustlers,” Lopez portrays Ramona (based on real-life dancer Samantha Barbash), who has a giant rose tattoo on her left shoulder blade. This design was brought to life on screen by Lopez’s longtime makeup artist, Scott Barnes. The “On the Floor” singer also wore a temporary dolphin tattoo on her right shoulder for her role of Holly in the 2012 film “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.”

Similarly, in the music video for her 2012 collaboration with Wisin & Yandel, “Follow the Leader,” Lopez showcases two bold artificial pieces of ink. In the opening scene, she’s seen sporting the track’s album title, “Líderes,” inked across her collarbone in cursive font, while her back has an enormous dragon illustration.

Ina Bansal is a contributor at PS, where she writes for the Beauty vertical.

Renee Rodriguez is a staff writer and social producer for PS. She writes across all verticals, but her main areas of expertise focus on fashion and beauty content with an emphasis on reviews and editor experiments. She also produces social content for PS’s TikTok and Instagram accounts.