Did Jennifer Lopez Copy Beyonce’s 2014 Grammy Performance For The AMAs??

If there’s one rule of the internet, it’s that you should NEVER poke the Beyhive!

Jennifer Lopez brought the heat with her performance of Pa Ti and Lonely alongside Maluma at the American Music Awards on Sunday night. While the show stopping number definitely pleased fans (the video already has nearly 900,000 views on YouTube in less than 24 hours), it also raised some eyebrows — and drew accusations of plagiarism.

Specifically, Beyoncé fans pointed out that the act bore a striking resemblance to her 2014 performance of Drunk in Love alongside JAY-Z at the Grammys, all the way from the styling and choreography to the lighting design. See the comparisons for yourself (HERE and HERE).

Critics on Twitter had some harsh words for the Jenny from the Block artist, writing:

“Not JLo dressed the exact same way as Beyoncé did for her ‘Drunk in Love’ performance at the Grammys. Even down to the wet hair and the chair ”

“Jlo….Beyonce already gave us this performance and did it better. #AMAs”

“jlo wanna be beyonce so bad, the thief striked once again #AMAs”

“why are people surprised about jlo coping a dance from another artist (beyonce), this women loves to copies everyone.”

“.@JLo’s career was built on copying and imitating. Selena [Quintanilla-Perez], Ashanti, Rihanna (JLO Beauty), now BEYONCÉ with her #AMAs performance”

“jlo really said ‘copy & paste’ with that performance lmao somebody come get her #Amas”

The 51-year-old had her defenders, too, though:

“Yes Jlo’s hair is just like Beyoncé’s but if you seen the video for the song she performed you’d know the theme was from the movie Basic Instinct , her hair was different in the video lol
#AMAs #JLO”

“I saw tweets about Jlo’s performance last night, and ya hoes just mad that a LATINA bodied her performance ! Im sure she’s honored to be compared to Beyonce! #AMAs”

While Beyonce doesn’t have a copyright on black bodysuits, we have to admit the number of similarities here is a bit suspicious. Not only was she called a culture vulture — as in, lifting elements from the Black community or from Black artists — some also took issue with a lyric in Lonely, “Yo siempre seré tu negrita del Bronx.”

Translated, the line means “I’ll always be your Black girl from the Bronx,” which as far as we know isn’t true — the actress has never claimed any Afro-Latina heritage. For some listeners, the questionable lyric brought up painful memories of Lopez’s inappropriate use of the N-word on JaRule’s 2001 track I’m Real. Overall, the behavior does suggest a pattern of appropriating Black culture.

Heard JLo called herself a “negrita from the Bronx” on national television yesterday pic.twitter.com/wmelNWKtNh

— Sandra E. Garcia (@S_Evangelina) November 23, 2020

Beyonce to everyone watching #Jlo (the faux negra from the Bronx) #AMAs2020 pic.twitter.com/7sYcxmL0pv

— Michelle Obama Had a Picture of Me on Display???????? (@ivorymouzon) November 23, 2020

But what do U think, Perezcious readers? Did Jen lift this performance from Beyoncé? Or are the similarities just coincidence? Let us know your thoughts in the comments (below)!

[Image via WENN/Avalon/Adriana M. Barraza]