Rule #1: Never, ever mess with Jennifer Lopez. Cuban-born waiter Ojani Noa probably wishes he didn’t have to learn that the hard way, by attempting to write a tell-all book about his marriage to Jennifer and having Jennifer’s lawyers block if from publication. Now, to make matters worse, a judge has upheld a 2007 order for Ojani to pay Jennifer over a half-million dollars in legal fees and damages, a judgment Ojani previously attempted to have overturned.

After their marriage ended in 1998 (less than one year after their wedding) and their professional relationship faltered when he was fired as head waiter at Jennifer’s restaurant Madre’s in 2002, Ojani wrote a salacious book outlining her “multiple duplicitous sexual affairs” behind Ojani’s back during their marriage (including a tryst with her current husband Marc Anthony while he was married to ex-Miss Universe Dayanara Torres). The book violated a 2002 confidentiality agreement between him and Jennifer, prompting Jenny to file a lawsuit against Ojani, which she won.

After all this, Ojani has no book to show for his troubles, and will have to serve thousands of Big Macs in order to pay off his ex-wife. Looks like this Halloween, the trick is on Ojani and Jennifer gets all the treats.
Latina

Natalie Portman has rescued the indie film Love And Other Impossible Pursuits after Jennifer Lopez’s sudden withdrawal from the lead role.

An adaptation of Ayelet Waldman’s novel, the romantic drama focuses on a woman who finds that her stepson may prove the solution to salvaging her failing marriage.

David Molner from the film’s production firm Incentive told Variety: “We were left in the lurch by one actress and rescued by another.

“It goes to show that, particularly with independent features, nothing is more important than the talent. It’s a blessing that Natalie loved the script.”

The movie will begin production next month in New York under the direction of Don Roos.
DigitalSpy

Jennifer Lopez, whose production company recently sold a pilot to ABC, is now getting into business with NBC Universal.

Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions has signed a two-year, first-look TV development deal with Universal Media Studios, NBC’s sister studio and the network’s primary supplier of scripted shows. The deal has NBC and UMS co-chairman Ben Silverman excited.

“Jennifer Lopez is a multi-faceted superstar and we are thrilled to be in business with her,” Silverman says. “NBC has been fortunate to have worked with her previously with her music specials, and now this first-look deal gives us an opportunity to explore a variety of projects which will result in some outstanding television.”

For her part, Lopez calls Universal “the perfect home for Nuyorican” and says she’s looking forward to having success there.

Lopez and partner Simon Fields have produced a handful of shows under the Nuyorican banner, including the short-lived UPN drama “South Beach,” the MTV series “Dancelife” and Univision’s miniseries “Como Ana Una Mujer.” The two are also executive producing the ABC pilot “Maid in Manhattan,” based on the 2002 Lopez movie about a single mom who works as a maid in a posh Manhattan hotel.

American actor Ben Affleck has opened up about his relationship and high-profile engagement to actress Jennifer Lopez. Affleck, who insists that they had been “too accessible” to the media, had started dating Lopez in 2002 after meeting her on the set of their film Gigli, and were supposed to wed in September 2004. But they ended up splitting shortly before their wedding date and both blamed the media attention for it. “I think Jen and I made a mistake in that we fell in love, we were excited and maybe too accessible. I don’t think either of us anticipated the degree to which it would take on a world of its own,” Contactmusic quoted him as saying. Both stars have now moved on with their lives, and Affleck is expecting his second child with actress Jennifer Garner, whom he married in 2005, later this year (08). Lopez married Latin singer Marc Anthony in 2004 and gave birth to twins in February (08).

Life couldn’t be more different for Jennifer Lopez since the February birth of their boy and girl, the singer and husband Marc Anthony admit.

“We’re just lucky,” Anthony, 40, tells PEOPLE. “Our life is designed around the twins. Everything smells better, it tastes better, it even feels better on a minute-to-minute basis. We should just enjoy this.”

The couple were arm in arm at Fashion Group International’s Night of Stars Event at Cipriani Wall Street in New York Thursday night. Lopez and Prince presented the award to Donatella Versace.

It was a Versace palm-leaf dress that Lopez famously wore to the Grammys in 2000, but the new mom and her husband were at odds over whether she’d slip into a similar outfit these days.

“For me, it was one of the eye-opening moments of what a dress could actually do,” Lopez, 39, tells PEOPLE. “And I was on the cover of the paper the next day, because of that Versace dress. No, I’d wear it [now].”

“Maybe as a wife, she wouldn’t,” Anthony interjected, as his spouse laughed.
People

Jennifer Lopez arrives at The Fashion Group International’s 25th Annual Night of Stars at Cipriani Wall Street on October 23,2008 in New York City.

More photos for the 2008 Women’s Conference in LA:

ET was on the scene in NYC for the Fashion Group’s 25th annual Night of Stars, where VIP guest Jennifer Lopez gave us the 411 on everything from renewing her vows with hubby Marc Anthony to choosing Halloween costumes for her adorable baby twins! Other celeb guests on hand to pay homage to the fashion world?s finest included: Prince, Debra Messing and “Gossip Girl” star Blake Lively. Donatella Versace was also honored with the event’s Superstar Award.

Jennifer Lopez wasn’t interested at first in adding men’s products to her fashion or fragrance collections. “I know women’s stuff. … I don’t know men’s,” she says. “I thought that women’s clothes was enough of a drama.” The thought of a Glow or Live Luxe for men never crossed her mind ? even if it crossed the minds of marketers ? because, she says, “You can’t force it.” Deseo, a floral-woody perfume launched in February, was different, however. “If you see the bottle, hear the name, there’s an outdoor theme, it seemed right,” Lopez explains in an interview before a recent bottle-signing appearance at Macy’s. Creating the juice wasn’t easy: She wanted masculine but not something too common like a musk. “I wanted to think outside the box,” she says. The starting point were the smells of red hot sauce and whiskey, while the final result has notes of lemon, tobacco, suede and amber.
USA Today

Benny Medina, the one-time manager of such celebs as Jennifer Lopez, Tyra Banks, Mariah Carey and Usher, has decided to shut down his management company Handprint Entertainment, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The industry veteran and his Handprint partner Jeff Pollack have also steered the careers of Kyra Sedgwick, Mekhi Phifer, Chris Rock, Will Smith, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Nicole Richie. But, as Fox411 columnist Roger Friedman puts it, “a stint with Usher was short. Banks left once she started making real money. Lopez left during her famed “Bennifer” days with Ben Affleck, who didn?t like Medina. More recently, Mariah said ‘adieu’ after her marriage to actor Nick Cannon.

Jennifer Lopez says she has been in a ?few challenging? relationships. The 39-year-old star ? who has previously dated P. Diddy and Ben Affleck ? admits she lost touch with herself during past romantic dalliances. Speaking at The Women’s Conference in Long Beach, California, Jennifer said: ?I have been in a few challenging relationships. I have been in relationships that can make you doubt who you are and what you are capable of, and doubt what you deserve. It took me a bit little longer to get it right.? However, Jennifer ? who has eight-month-old twins Max and Emme with husband Marc Anthony ? also said raising children has enabled her to explore a different side of herself. She added: ?Becoming a mother can make you more aware and more loving, and make you aware there’s nothing they don’t deserve. Your eyes open. Your heart opens.” The conference Jennifer spoke at was attended by over 14,000 women, including Arnold Schwarzenegger?s wife, and California First Lady, Maria Shriver.

More than 14,000 women gathered in Long Beach today for The Women’s Conference, hosted by California first lady Maria Shriver and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and featuring a host of speakers, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Warren Buffet and U2 singer and philanthropist Bono. Tickets for the conference, which has grown in popularity exponentially over the past two decades, sold out in three hours when they went on sale in July. “There is no place where you can go and see Gloria Steinem and Condoleezza Rice, Warren Buffet and Jennifer Lopez, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Heidi Klum, Bono and Billie Jean King all in one day, all in one place,” Shriver told the crowd at the beginning of the conference.

Shriver said the conference has become the nation’s premier forum for women, empowering them to “find a common purpose, be united by a shared conversation and see themselves as a collective `we.”‘ “This year, I am urging women to take time to explore their deepest hopes and aspirations, and I hope they leave the conference with a better sense of just who they want to be — and the knowledge of how to get there,” she said. In a year when Hillary Clinton challenged for a presidential nomination, a black man is vying for the White House and a woman is on a major party presidential ticket, Rice said during a panel discussion that women and minority groups are coming of age in America. “We haven’t had a white male secretary of state in 12 years because there was Madeline Albright and then Colin Powell and myself,” she said. “I think the glass ceiling is being shattered.”

The conference also featured panel discussions such as:
– MSNBC’s Chris Matthews moderating a conversation on leadership and the economy with Buffet and Schwarzenegger;
– “Inside Edition” anchor Deborah Norville moderating a conversation on men who use their voices to change the world, featuring Michael J. Fox and hip-hop pioneer Russell Simmons;
– CNN’s Christiane Amanpour moderating a discussion on changing the world, featuring former Secretary of State Madeline Albright, human rights advocate Cherie Blair, The Experience Corp. CEO Cecilia Maria Attias and Executive Director of Secretariat of Liberia Cerue Konah Garlo; and
– NPR’s Farai Chideya moderating a talk on being a “woman warrior,” featuring Steinem and Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman.

Shriver also recognized five California women who have made a lasting impact on the state through service by presenting them with Minerva Awards. Receiving those awards were Steinem, tennis legend Billie Jean King, homeless advocate Betty Chinn, self-help pioneer Louise Hay and foster children advocate Ivelise Markovits.

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony enjoyed a dinner at the Waverly Inn on October 19, 2008 in New York City, New York. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony were joined by Elton John, Donatella Versace, and Roberto Cavalli. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony held hands and smiled.

Jennifer Lopez attends The 2008 Women’s Conference on October 22, 2008 in Long Beach, California.

Jennifer Lopez says that when it came to becoming happy and fulfilled in a relationship, she was a late bloomer.

“I have been in a few challenging ones,” Lopez, 39, said Wednesday at The Women’s Conference in Long Beach, Calif. “I have been in relationships that can make you doubt who you are and what you are capable of, and doubt what you deserve. It took me a bit little longer to get it right.”

The actress, who didn’t single out any of her exes, has been married twice and famously dated Sean “Diddy” Combs and Ben Affleck before quietly marrying Marc Anthony, 40, with whom she had twins.

Raising children, she told the conference being attended by 14,000 women and hosted by California First Lady Maria Shriver, “can make you more aware and more loving, and make you aware there’s nothing they don’t deserve. Your eyes open. Your heart opens.”
People