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ShareNEW YORK - A day after Jennifer Lopez went back to the Bronx to sign autographs, the nation’s top Latin music chain accused her of forgetting her roots.
Ritmo Latino banned all J.Lo CDs from its 50 stores Thursday, charging the sultry singer is dissing Hispanic shops.
Ritmo President David Massry alleged that J.Lo “has refused personally to promote her new CD in any of our stores” and won’t appear at other outlets devoted only to Latin music.
“We’ve supported her from the beginning. Now we’re told by her record company she will only visit Anglo retail outlets,” Massry said.
On Wednesday, J.Lo signed hundreds of autographs at the F.Y.E. record store in her home borough for fans who bought her new disc, “Como Ama una Mujer” (“How a Woman Loves”), Lopez’s first album sung only in Spanish.
“This is a Spanish-language CD, and if she wants to discriminate against the Latin community, then we will not sell her product,” Massry said.
“This is not the first time this has happened. Celebrities have this notion that when they reach a certain level of crossover appeal, they forget quickly where they started,” he said. “We will no longer tolerate these situations.”
But many fans of the Bronx-born star rose to her defense.
Yamilka Rivas, 15, an outraged 10th-grader from Harlem, demanded, “How is she discriminating? Her new album is in Spanish, for gosh sake. J.Lo doesn’t make music for white people, she makes it for everybody.”
Omar Guzman, 19, a McDonald’s cashier from Washington Heights, declared, “This is really messed up. She’s Hispanic and she’s showing it. She’s for real.”
“How can an Hispanic company abandon an Hispanic person, an Hispanic star,” he asked.
Stephanie Padilla, 16, from the Bronx, branded the ban “censorship” and said it was “just wrong.
“J.Lo is a Boricua (Puerto Rican) from the block. She’s just one on to bigger and better things. You can’t penalize her for that.”
One of the few dissenters was eighth-grade teacher Shakira Lleras, 27, who said, “I can understand the ban and why they’re upset.”
“Just look around the city,” she said. “Not too many people identify with her and the life she leads.”
Lopez could not be reached for comment.
